ITA approved to join Lufthansa

The European Commission approved Lufthansa’s investment in ITA.

The long-running saga of Lufthansa’s investment in Italy’s ITA, the 96-aircraft airline that arose from the ashes of Alitalia, is over.

Lufthansa Group has been given approval to acquire 41% of the airline, with options to buy the remainder over time, which will create a fifth national hub to operate alongside Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels.

The key concessions made by Lufthansa are a slot transfer at Milan Linate to a short-haul competitor (Lufthansa is said to be in talks with easyJet and budget Spanish carrier Volotea) and all ITA flights at Milan Linate to Lufthansa Group hubs to be surrendered to a third party.  Also required is a commitment to offer additional flights from Rome to IAG and Air France KLM hub cities to improve long-haul competition to North America.

The deal is expected to complete in the third quarter of this year. It is not clear what happens to Air Dolomiti, the small Italian carrier which is already owned by Lufthansa.  At some point ITA will leave SkyTeam for Star Alliance.

www.ita-airways.com

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