Appeal brought on 24 April 2024 by Société Air France and Air France-KLM against the judgment of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) delivered on 7 February 2024 in Case T-146/22, Ryanair v Commission (KLM II; COVID-19)

(Case C-289/24 P)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Appellants: Société Air France, Air France-KLM (represented by: J. Derenne and D. Vallindas, avocats, A. Álvarez Vidal, abogada)

Other parties to the proceedings: Ryanair DAC, European Commission, French Republic, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij NV

Form of order sought

The appellants claim that the Court should:

set aside the judgment under appeal;

make use of its power under the second sentence of the first paragraph of Article 61 of the Statute of the Court to give final judgment in the matter and dismiss the action for annulment lodged in Case T-146/22;

alternatively, refer the case back to the General Court for consideration of the pleas not already assessed; and

order Ryanair DAC to pay the costs of the appeal proceedings and of those in first instance, if it gives final judgment in the matter, or reserve the costs of the present proceedings, if it refers the case back to the General Court.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the appeal, the appellants rely on three pleas in law.

First, the General Court applied an incorrect standard for the determination of the aid beneficiary within a corporate group and, therefore, wrongly concluded that Air France-KLM (the holding) and Air France could not be excluded from the beneficiary of the aid measure at issue.

Second, the General Court substituted its own assessment of the determination of the aid beneficiary without adequately establishing a manifest error of assessment of the contested decision of the Commission.

Third, the General Court committed an error in law in its interpretation of the notions of indirect advantage and secondary effects in the state aid field.

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