Lufthansa is growing: entry into Italy’s state airline Ita

Lufthansa has taken the first step towards taking over the Italian state airline Ita. According to its own information, the MDax group made a capital contribution of 325 million euros and in return received a minority of 41 percent of Ita shares. The Italian state initially continues to hold the majority.

The complete takeover of Alitalia’s successor, which currently has 99 aircraft and 5,000 employees, has already been contractually agreed with the government in Rome. Lufthansa can therefore take over 90 percent and later the entire Italia Trasporto Aereo (Ita) in two further steps if the business figures are correct.

The move to the majority is not planned for the current year, CEO Carsten Spohr said in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. “It is in our interest to keep the Italian government on board in the next few months. But a 100 percent takeover is the clear goal.” A fixed price of 829 million euros has been agreed for this, including a potential variable component.

After long negotiations, the European Union approved the takeover under strict competition rules. Ita had to hand over extensive take-off and landing rights in Rome and Milan to the direct airline Easyjet. Ita also has to bring passengers from competitors IAG (British Airways, Iberia) and Air France to their hubs at preferential rates. Even before entering Italy, Lufthansa was the aviation group with the highest sales in Europe.

The 27 new Easyjet connections to numerous European cities are intended to limit the market power of the Lufthansa Group. The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is the largest provider in the Italian market.

Even before the Lufthansa entry was legally completed, the Italian state, as the old owner, appointed the airline’s new five-person management team. Lufthansa chief strategist Jörg Eberhart, who has headed the northern Italian regional subsidiary Air Dolomiti for eight years, is designated as Chief Executive Officer. Sales expert Lorenza Maggio also comes from Lufthansa.

CEO Carsten Spohr praises the development work of Alitalia’s successor. “We are pleased to continue this success story together with Ita Airways. With our participation, we will now strengthen the Italian and European aviation market and the position of the Lufthansa Group as number one in Europe.”

After Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and the Belgian Brussels Airlines, Ita will be the fifth privatized state airline under the group’s umbrella. The company, which was launched in the middle of the Corona crisis in 2020, has always made a net loss so far, but announced an operating profit for 2024, as in the previous year. Last year it had around 18 million passengers. The new investment should quickly benefit from joint purchasing and uniform marketing within the Lufthansa Group and contribute a three-digit million profit annually.