The exemption did not selectively favour certain airlines and therefore involved no state aid within the meaning of EU rules. This concerns an excise duty, which was in place from March 2009 to April 2014, and applied to airlines operating in Ireland. The tax had to be paid for each passenger flying from an airport located in Ireland. However, departures of passengers in transfer or transit were exempted from the tax. On the basis of its in-depth investigation, the Commission has now concluded that the exemption was in line with the underlying logic of the Irish air travel tax, which was to tax journeys by air originating from Ireland. If a passenger transfers or transits in Ireland they are on a single journey from their airport of origin to their airport of destination, and not on two separate journeys arriving in and originating from Ireland.