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EU: Lufthansa loses challenge to aid for Frankfurt’s Hahn airport

By  |  April 14, 2019
Lufthansa on Friday lost its court challenge against millions of euros in state aid being granted to Frankfurt-Hahn airportto the benefit of rival Ryanair, after failing to prove the payments dented its revenue or market share.

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    The German carrier took its case to the Luxembourg-based General Court after EU antitrust regulators in 2014 gave the green light to a series of support measures for the airport, which is 82.5-percent owned by China’s HNA Group with the rest held by the German state of Hesse.

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    The support given to the airport, which is only used by Ryanair and Wizz Air, included capital increases totaling 49 million euros ($55.5 million), direct grants and a charging scheme.

    The German airline argued that many of the benefits of the aid were passed on to Ryanair, which was not paying high enough airport charges. But Europe’s second-highest court said that Lufthansa had failed to show it took a financial hit or lost market share as result of the measures.

    Full Content: Reuters

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