Link: Finland’s guarantee in favour of the airline Finnair to help it obtain a loan of €600 million from a pension fund to cover its working capital requirements following the Covid-19 pandemic is compatible with EU law (europa.eu)

Languages available: bg es cs da de et el en fr hr it lv lt mt nl pl pt ro sk sl fi sv

General Court of the European Union

PRESS RELEASE No 53/21

Luxembourg, 14 April 2021

Judgment in Case T-388/20 Ryanair DAC v Commission

Finland’s guarantee in favour of the airline Finnair to help it obtain a loan of €600 million from a pension fund to cover its working capital requirements following the Covid-19 pandemic is compatible with EU law

The guarantee was necessary in order to remedy the serious disturbance in the Finnish economy in view of the importance of Finnair for that economy On 13 May 2020, Finland notified the Commission of an aid measure in the form of a State guarantee in favour of the Finnish airline, Finnair Plc, aimed at helping the latter obtain a loan of €600 million from a pension fund to cover its working capital needs. The guarantee, which was supposed to cover 90% of that loan, was limited to a maximum duration of three years and could be relied upon in the event of Finnair’s default with regard to the pension fund.

Referring to its communication on the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak, 1 the Commission classified the guarantee granted to Finnair as State aid which is compatible with the internal market in accordance with Article 107(3)(b) TFEU. 2 Under that provision, aid intended to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State may, under certain circumstances, be considered to be compatible with the internal market. 

(...)