Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
Unfair competition
EuroAtlantic and Ryanair do not agree and contest TAP's restructuring plan
Airbus A330-900neo
TAP
Nicky Boogaard, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rafael Ramos
9/13/2021
EuroAtlantic, a Portuguese private airline, has friction with the Portuguese government because, supposedly, the Portuguese government is favoring TAP. The president of EuroAtlantic, Eugénio Ferreira, had already criticized the State's support for TAP, considering it “unfair” and questionable, since other Portuguese companies in the sector did not receive the aid.
EuroAtlantic responded to the public consultation on the matter on September 6th. The company criticized the fact that the Portuguese government intends to help TAP with 1.2 billion Euros to respond to the company's needs during the pandemic, with conditions for TAP to return the money later.
However, in May, the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) annulled the European Commission's decision approving state aid for TAP, as it considered the aid "insufficiently substantiated", not yet requiring the reimbursement of this amount. Even so, the 462 million euros that have already been applied by the government, have no date to be returned until there is a new court decision.
Among EuroAtlantic's comments is that all "players" in the market must have opportunities to grow and balance the market more for the good of the consumer.
Ryanair is also going to court against government aid, so it once accused TAP of blocking slots at Lisbon airport, which supposedly would impede the growth of other airlines. “We could put more planes in Lisbon, create more jobs, help Portugal grow and recover from the covid-19 crisis more quickly”.
Boeing 777-200
EuroAtlantic
calflier001, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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