09:43 AM EDT, 04/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Ryanair (RYAAY) called on the German government Thursday to recover from Lufthansa about 200 million euros ($233.8 million) in bailout benefits after an EU court ruling upheld the annulment of the European Commission's approval of Lufthansa's recapitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Court of Justice of the European Union said Thursday that it dismissed Lufthansa's appeal against a 2023 General Court ruling that annulled the Commission's decision to approve Germany's 6 billion euro recapitalization for Lufthansa and classify this as state aid.

The court said the 2023 ruling was "correct to hold that the Commission had infringed"the Temporary Framework for State aid measures during the pandemic "by accepting methods for determining the price of the shares at the time of the conversion"of a 1 billion euro convertible debt instrument into equity.

Ryanair said the ruling confirmed that the bailout distorted competition.