Brussels, 13/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 13 May, the General Court of the EU dismissed the actions brought by the airline Niki Luftfahrt against Lufthansa's acquisition of Austrian Airlines and the restructuring aid granted by Austria to Austrian Airlines in that regard.
None of the arguments put forward by Niki is capable of casting doubt on the Commission's authorisation, subject to conditions, of that concentration and that aid, said the Court (cases T-511/09 and T-162/10).
Due to financial difficulties faced by Austrian Airlines, the Austrian state decided to privatise it in 2008 by selling its majority shareholding of 41.56%. The bid of Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, proved to be the option of choice. In two decisions of 28 August 2009, and on condition that Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines respect their respective commitments, the Commission authorised Lufthansa's planned acquisition of Austrian Airlines and, subject to certain conditions and full implementation of the restructuring plan as notified, the restructuring aid included in the negative purchase price to be paid by Lufthansa.
Niki Luftfahrt GmbH is a company governed by Austrian law with its registered office in Vienna which runs an airline known as FlyNiki or Niki. Niki Luftfahrt brought actions before the General Court for annulment of the Commission's approval decisions.
By its judgments, the General Court dismisses those actions. In the view of the Court, none of the arguments put forward by Niki Luftfahrt is capable of casting doubt on the two decisions of the Commission. In particular, Niki Luftfahrt was unsuccessful in refuting the Commission's finding that the compatibility of Lufthansa's acquisition of Austrian Airlines with EU competition law gave rise to serious doubts only as regards the Vienna-Stuttgart, Vienna-Cologne-Bonn and Vienna-Munich services as well as the Vienna-Frankfurt (operating between Austria and Germany) and Vienna-Brussels (operating between Austria and Belgium) services. Nor was Niki Luftfahrt able to show that the commitments proposed by Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines were insufficient to dispel those doubts. Those commitments aimed to reduce barriers to entry and to facilitate the entry of one or several new entrants or the expansion of competitors already operating those services, in particular, by making certain time slots available.
Niki Luftfahrt was further unable to show that the Commission erred in finding that the state aid granted to Austrian Airlines, which was included in the negative price to be paid by Lufthansa, was, as restructuring aid, compatible with EU law on state aid. That state aid was aimed at reducing Austrian Airlines's indebtedness and a restructuring plan aimed at ensuring Austrian Airlines's viability in the long-term. (Lionel Changeur)