The Hungarian budget airline found fault with Tarom’s state bailout. That is because provided the Romanian airline had bankrupted during the COVID pandemic, there would have been other airlines which could have served Romanian passengers on the routes of the Romanian flag carrier. Of course, Wizz Air wants to conquer the low-cost market of Hungary’s Eastern neighbour. That is why they brought the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CURIA).
Romania gave EUR 37 million as a loan to Tarom, the country’s flag carrier, after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. That is how they saved their airline from bankruptcy. Wizz Air believed that the help was prohibited state support and brought the case to the CURIA. But the EU’s Court of Justice gave right to Romania, Világgazdaság wrote.
In September 2022, we wrote that Wizz Air continued its lawsuit against Tarom. Furthermore, the Hungarian low-cost airline expressed it would take the Romanian competitor’s place if it went bankrupt as it did in the case of Malév. However, they would have only taken over certain flights, the airline’s company director added then.
Ryanair was also outraged in France
During the pandemic, several countries decided to help their flag carriers, which low-cost companies regularly slammed. For example, Ryanair complained about the bailout of Air France and SAS.
In the case of Wizz Air’s complaint about Romania’s EUR 37 million loan to their airline Tarom, the EU’s Court of Justice decided on Thursday and rejected Wizz’s claim. The court said Tarom’s bankruptcy would have affected several Romanian regions badly since the air connection would have terminated in that case.
The CURIA did not accept Wizz Air’s argument that competitor airlines would have filled that gap, Maszol wrote.
Before, Wizz Air turned to the EU’s CURIA because of the EUR 60 million bailout of Romanian Blue Air. However, that airline went bankrupt and is now in state ownership.
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