Ryanair’s Successful Challenge of Germany’s COVID-19 Aid to Lufthansa

Cleary Gottlieb successfully represented Ryanair before the EU Courts in a challenge of Germany’s COVID-19 aid to Lufthansa.

On April 24, 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered a landmark judgment (C-457/23 P), upholding the General Court’s ruling that the €6 billion recapitalization aid granted by the German government to the Lufthansa Group during the COVID-19 pandemic was wrongfully cleared by the European Commission. This is the largest ever individual State aid recapitalization measure approved by the Commission in a decision that was then annulled by the European Court of Justice. Cleary represented Ryanair, which had sought the annulment of the Commission decision.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission’s State aid activity reached an extraordinary scale, with approximately 700 measures under the COVID-19 Temporary Framework.

Cleary is also representing Ryanair in parallel proceedings currently pending before the General Court to seek recovery of the amount of aid still at Lufthansa’s disposal (T-629/24), as well as access to documents concerning a potential breach by Lufthansa of its commitments attached to the aid (T-881/25).

The Cleary team included partner François-Charles Laprévote and associate Camilla Cozzani.