EU competition regulators to investigate SAS recapitalisation again after court veto

EU competition regulators will investigate Swedish airline SAS' a 1-billion-euro ($1.1 billion) recapitalisation by Denmark and Sweden after an EU court annulled their 2020 decision, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

"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," the EU executive said in a statement.

The Commission said its preliminary view is that 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)".


The aid was granted to SAS in the midst of the pandemic. Most EU airlines also received state aid.