Air transport
EU Commission finally approves Lufthansa’s entry into Ita
Negotiations about Lufthansa joining the Italian airline Ita dragged on for more than a year. Now the European Commission is clearing the last hurdle.
The European Commission has finally approved Lufthansa’s entry into the Italian state airline Ita. The authorities in Brussels announced that the concessions made by the German airline mean that the conditions for the deal have been met. Lufthansa leaves flight connections in Italy to its competitors Easyjet, Air France-KLM and International Airline Group. With the approval from Brussels, Europe’s highest-grossing aviation group has overcome the final hurdle for participation in Ita.
Both Lufthansa and the Italian Finance Ministry had to make commitments to the EU Commission for final approval. They had to enable competitors to have more short- and long-haul flights from Italy and transfer take-off and landing rights at Milan-Linate Airport.
Initially planned to take over 41 percent of the shares
The plan is for the German airline to initially take over 41 percent of Ita shares for a capital contribution of 325 million euros. Over the next few years there could be a complete takeover of the former Alitalia for more than 800 million euros.
The EU Commission had already given the general green light for entry in June, but stated a number of conditions. This meant that take-off and landing rights had to be given to competitors.
The negotiations over Lufthansa’s entry into the Italian competition dragged on for more than a year. Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) emerged in 2020 from the state airline Alitalia, which had repeatedly run into severe economic turbulence. According to the latest information, the company has almost 4,900 employees.
dpa
Source: Stern
