+ Italian airline's future

Atlalia.  It might be back!

What was once known as Alitalia, and now trades as ITA, after a financial hiatus the future looks much more assured with the news that the Italian government signed an agreement with the Lufthansa Group to become a 41% shareholder and eventually take full control of the airline. Full management supervision, from day one, was one of its most important pre-conditions for negotiations.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval by the European Commission (EC). Industry sources say an in-depth investigation is all but certain, which would delay approval and potential closing into at least the fall of 2023. EC conditions could also be so high that Lufthansa might still walk away.

The takeover of ITA is part of Lufthansa’s long-standing strategy to acquire airlines in markets that it considers to be core to its business.

Over the last 15 years, the airline has taken over Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian and Brussels Airlines. Lufthansa allows its subsidiaries to keep their own brands and management and a certain degree of freedom. Certain functions are centralized, including (fleet) purchasing and network planning.

Of the three major acquisitions so far, only Swiss has been consistently profitable. Austrian and Brussels have been loss-making in most years, though Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa CEO, argues their financial contributions to Lufthansa’s bottom line are significant as both feed its Frankfurt and Munich long-haul flights.

It will be interesting to see if the name ITA is retained.  Alitalia failed in October 2021, and whilst during most of its 75 years it was not profitable the brand has a certain strength, and a clear definition of its home.

www.ita-airways.com

www.lufthansa.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alitalia

Index/Home page
 

READERS' COMMENT

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 200 words maximum

Simon Grigor, United Kingdom

I do like the ITA colour-scheme: one of the best. I must research why, althuogh the Italian flag is red, white and green, various Italy-specific things are all blue (the nation's football strip another example).