European Commission v Aer Lingus Ltd and Ryanair Designated Activity Company (C-164/15 P, C-165/15 P)

Judgment of 21 Dec 2016

law://eu/cjeu/2015/c-164-15/para_102@2026-11-12

102Indeed, contrary to the view expressed by the General Court in paragraph 105 of the Aer Lingus judgment and paragraph 136 of the Ryanair judgment, the advantage, as identified by the Commission in the decision at issue, did not consist in the fact that the airlines subject to the lower rate were able to ‘offer more competitive prices’. It consisted, quite simply, in the fact that those companies had to pay a lower rate of ATT than they would have had to pay if their flights had been subject to the higher rate of ATT. The question whether that advantage enabled them to offer more competitive ticket prices, or whether they exploited that advantage differently, relates to the assessment of any benefit they were able to accrue from the exploitation of the advantage granted; that assessment is irrelevant to the recovery of the aid.

European Commission v Aer Lingus Ltd and Ryanair Designated Activity Company (C-164/15 P, C-165/15 P)

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