The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has dismissed an appeal from Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) regarding a minor state aid package the Romanian government had granted to flag carrier TAROM (RO, Bucharest Henri Coanda) in 2022 as a result of the impact of Covid-19.
The aid, EUR1.9 million euros (USD2 million), was formally approved by the European Commission in April 2022. It was granted from Romania's general budget and intended to compensate state-owned TAROM for losses suffered from July 1, 2020, to the end of that year.
“The General Court confirms that the Commission correctly assessed the proportionality of the aid granted to TAROM and that the measure at issue did not give rise to overcompensation,” the CJEU said in a statement.
The court considered that the authority had accurately calculated TAROM’s losses that were directly linked to travel restrictions during the pandemic. It also believes that the carrier “had taken reasonable measures to limit the damage during that period.”
Moreover, the court rejected Wizz Air’s arguments that previous aid to TAROM had not been taken into account when approving the support. “First, the earlier aid and the measure at issue are distinct and do not cover the same costs, and second, the Commission is not required to consider any advantage from which TAROM might have indirectly benefited, such as the competitive advantage alleged by Wizz Air,” the statement said.
TAROM has received numerous state aid packages over the past few years and is currently undergoing restructuring following its latest aid approval worth EUR95.26 million (USD103 million). Wizz Air previously lost an appeal against TAROM receiving RON175,952,000 lei (circa USD40 million at the time) in government support, shortly before the Covid-19 outbreak.
ch-aviation has requested comment from TAROM and Wizz Air on this matter.
