The Court of Justice of the European Union (TJEU) today annulled the granting of State aid to the KLM airline in the context of the damage caused by the covid-19 epidemic, while maintaining that given to Condor.
© Horst Galuschka/picture alliance via Getty Images
05/11/2026
by
Lusa
O The Court of Justice of the European Union (TJEU) today annulled the granting of State aid to the KLM airline, which was granted in connection with the damage caused by the covid-19 epidemic, while maintaining those given to Condor.
As regards the Air France-KLM group, the TJEU annulled a decision of the European Commission – and that the General Court had validated on a first appeal by the low-cost Irish operator Ryanair – to approve State aid granted by the Netherlands, amounting to EUR 3.4 billion, granted through a State guarantee on a bank loan.
The judgment considers that the Commission made a mistake when it excluded Air France and Holding Air France-KLM from the perimeter of the beneficiaries of the aid.
The other judgment delivered today maintains the decision of the Community executive to approve State aid from Germany to the air carrier ‘charter’ Condor, amounting to EUR 321 million, denying Ryanair provision in the appeal.
The covid-19 pandemic was a global health crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which emerged in late 2019 and rapidly spread worldwide, with about 779 million cases in more than 230 territories and over 7.1 million officially confirmed deaths.
The health emergency was declared on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization and the end of the pandemic on May 5, 2023.

