Judgment of the General Court of 24 May 2023 – Ryanair v Commission (Italy; aid scheme; COVID-19)
(Case T-268/21) 1
(State aid – Italian air transport market – Compensation scheme for airlines with an Italian operating licence – Decision not to raise any objections – Aid intended to make good the damage caused by an exceptional occurrence – Obligation to state reasons)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: Ryanair DAC (Swords, Ireland) (represented by: E. Vahida, F.-C. Laprévote, V. Blanc, S. Rating, I.-G. Metaxas-Maranghidis and D. Pérez de Lamo, lawyers)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: L. Flynn, C. Georgieva and F. Tomat, acting as Agents)
Intervening parties in support of the defendant: Neos SpA (Somma, Lombardo, Italy), Blue panorama airlines SpA (Somma, Lombardo), Air Dolomiti SpA – Linee aeree regionali Europee (Villafranca de Verona, Italy) (represented by: M. Merola and A. Cogoni, lawyers)
Re:
By its action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicant seeks the annulment of Commission Decision C(2020) 9625 final of 22 December 2020 on State aid SA.59029 (2020/N) – Italy – COVID-19: Compensation scheme for airlines with an Italian operating licence.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Annuls Commission Decision C(2020) 9625 final of 22 December 2020 on State aid SA.59029 (2020/N) – Italy – COVID-19: Compensation scheme for airlines with an Italian operating licence;
Orders the Commission to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by Ryanair DAC;
Orders Neos SpA, Blue panorama airlines SpA and Air Dolomiti SpA – Linee aeree regionali Europee to bear their own costs.
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1 OJ C 252, 28.6.2021.