The great state aid crusade: Ryanair's continued battle ( Condor II )

The aviation industry is one of narrow profit margins and a frequent victim to the impact of external economic shocks. Given this, and its vital role in ensuring global connectivity to support the broader global economy, the sector often receives significant state aid when these shocks start to impact profitability. During the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines were significantly impacted by the sudden stop, and intermittent restart of air travel across Europe leading to a wave of state aid designed to support airlines through the pandemic. The German airline Condor was caught in a perfect storm at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic following on from the collapse of its parent company Thomas Cook which necessitated restructuring. In 2020, its competitor Ryanair successfully litigated against the granting of state aid to the struggling airline which led to a second state aid package being granted after approval from the European Commission in 2021. This led to a second case (Condor II) being taken by Ryanair against the issuing of state aid to Condor, which is the focus of this article. The article focuses on the CJEU’s judgement, and in particular the CJEU’s opinion on the aggressively ideological litigation by Ryanair on its ‘great state aid crusade’. It highlights the main points of argument from both Ryanair and the European Commission and also analyses the CJEU's novel approach in assessing the necessity of state aid to Condor which included non-financial factors such as the impact on labour. It also considers a rare alignment between the interests of workers and consumers, particularly in sectors with high levels of consolidation and reducing levels of competition.