An EU court on Wednesday overturned the European Commission's approval of millions of euros in bailout money for the German airline Condor.

"The commission should not have approved the restructuring aid at issue without initiating a formal investigation procedure," a press release from the European Union's General Court said.

Germany got a green light from the commission in 2021 to give Condor €321 million ($345 million) for restructuring after parent company Thomas Cook went bankrupt. EU state aid rules require such bailouts to be approved by the commission.

But rival budget airline Ryanair objected on the grounds that the commission had not done a proper investigation and launched legal proceedings.

On Wednesday, the EU General Court agreed.

The court ruled that the commission should have examined whether the German bailout bought the state a "reasonable share of future gains in the value of Condor."

"Furthermore, those doubts that the Commission should have had necessarily affect its assessment of the scope of the measures to limit distortions of competition."

However, while granting Ryanair's request to annul the commission's decision, the court also said the Irish budget airline had not shown that its own competitive position would be harmed.

A spokeswoman for Condor told dpa that the judgement "has no impact on Condor's business situation and flight operations."

Condor is currently modernizing its fleet with the help, as of 2021, of the financial investor and majority shareholder Attestor. The repayment of the state aid is proceeding according to plan, the spokeswoman said, without going into details.

According to earlier statements, the complete takeover by Attestor should take place by 2026 at the latest.

Ryanair called the decision "a triumph for fair competition and consumers across the EU."

In a statement the company said: "Today's judgement confirms once again that the commission must act as the guardian of a level playing field in air transport and cannot approve discriminatory state aid promoted by national governments."

The commission has two months and 10 days to appeal the decision in the EU Court of Justice, the bloc's highest court.

In a press statement, the commission said it "will study the judgement carefully and reflect on possible next steps."