Ryanair will demand that the EU's approval of Germany's state emergency loan to Lufthansa be reviewed, the Irish airline's chief legal officer, Juliusz Komorek, told Reuters.
Juliusz Komorek claims that Lufthansa does not need state aid at all to survive, but that the money is only intended to build a war chest to ward off competition from low-cost carriers.
The low-cost airline has on several occasions criticized Lufthansa, which received approval from the EU during the day for the government package, which also looks set to receive approval from shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting this afternoon.
Ryanair's outspoken CEO, Michael O'Leary, has called it "illegal subsidies" and claimed that Lufthansa and Air France are "state aid addicts." The company has also gone to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to challenge aid given to Air France and SAS in France, Denmark and Sweden.
Michael O'Leary wrote earlier this week that the emergency packages make it more difficult for low-cost competitors to compete in the short-haul flight market.
”"We will appeal this latest example of illegal state aid to Lufthansa, which will distort competition enormously. How are airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet or Laudamotion expected to compete with Lufthansa which now receives €9 billion in state-funded aid?" the CEO wrote.
Source: Nyhetsbyrån Direkt
