Appeal brought on 16 April 2024 by Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij NV 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-269/24 P)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Appellant: Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij NV (represented by: C.E. Schillemans, P.J.F. Huizing, J. de Kok and E. de Krom, advocaten)

Other parties to the proceedings: Ryanair DAC, European Commission, French Republic, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Société Air France, Air France-KLM

Form of order sought

The appellant claims that the Court should:

grant the appeal and 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 appellant relies on three pleas in law.

First, the General Court erred in law by applying an incorrect legal standard for determining the aid beneficiary within a corporate group and, therefore, wrongly concluded that Air France-KLM Holding SA and its subsidiaries, including Société Air France SA and its subsidiaries, could not be excluded from the beneficiary of the aid measure at issue.

Second, the General Court erred in law by substituting its own assessment for that of the Commission regarding the determination of the aid beneficiary without adequately establishing a manifest error of assessment of the contested decision of the European Commission.

Third, the General Court erred in law by misinterpreting the legal framework concerning the concept of indirect advantages of state aid.

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