EU Competition Regulators to Probe Swedish Airline SAS over One-Billion-Euro Recapitalization by Denmark & Sweden

EU Competition Regulators to Probe Swedish Airline SAS over One-Billion-Euro Recapitalization by Denmark & Sweden

EU Competition regulators is set to probe Swedish Airline SAS over a 1-billion-euro ($1.1 billion) recapitalisation by Denmark and Sweden after an EU Court annulled a 2020 decision.

The EU executive in a statement said, “The Commission will now carry out a more in-depth investigation in order to assess further the recapitalisation measure. The Commission aims at adopting a final decision on this case in the coming months.”

According to Commission’s preliminary view, the recapitalisation measure complied with EU rules, with the exception of the absence of a step-up mechanism (or an alternative mechanism with the same effect as a step-up mechanism).

SAS welcomed the European Commission’s decision to open a formal investigation into its recapitalization by Denmark and Sweden.

“It is important to reach a robust solution to the issue identified by the General Court as quickly as possible,” SAS said.

SAS was granted the assistance during the peak of the pandemic, so the aid was timely. A majority of EU airlines also received state aid as a result of the program.