Lufthansa Confirms Big Update

Lufthansa’s stake in ITA Airways could jump to a majority sooner rather than expected.

According to a report from Il Sole 24 Ore, the integration of the Italian carrier into the Lufthansa Group was said to be moving forward, with the investment to rise to 90%.

Lufthansa CEO’s reportedly also met with the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance only recently, during which essential discussions were held to develop a strategy to make this full integration possible.

For the German Group, the goal of scaling the stake from its current minority to a majority has long been planned. When the deal was first signed, the Group believed that it always wanted to reach a 100% takeover of ITA Airways.

The process to reach a majority stake had more question marks around it, primarily driven by the Group’s unwillingness to immediately dive into a majority and instead sound out how an initial investment would work moving forward.

For the Lufthansa Group, it also understands that holding a majority stake is one thing, but making it possible is another; as a result, the company needs to work closely with the Italian government to ensure this can move forward formally at some point.

Lufthansa Group says it is at the halfway stage of the overall integration process, which it describes as the fastest integration of a company seen in recent memory, spanning just 18 months, and the Group believes it’s on the right track.

Thus far, significant progress has been made between the Group and ITA Airways, with codesharing, loyalty, and lounge access intertwined, and there’s much more to come, including integration into Star Alliance, the allocation of flight slots, and more.

What Lufthansa Does For ITA Airways

For ITA Airways, integrating its operations into the Lufthansa Group offers significant benefits. This airline emerged following the collapse of Alitalia and thus faces the same doubters about its prospects.

The takeover aims to provide ITA Airways with crucial capital moving forward, but, more importantly, with long-term financial backing to prove doubters wrong and build the resources to be more financially stable, without being forced to rely on government handouts or the possibility of external funding.

With greater stability, ITA Airways is therefore aligning with the desires of the Lufthansa Group and their input to expand its overall operations, whether this is visible through more aggressive expansion into specific markets or through continued investment in a new fleet.

That expansion of the network is the next benefit for the two companies, Lufthansa having always found that Italy was a problem child market it struggled to gain a foothold in, which is about to change with more opportunities to enhance flying here for the German Group.

On the side of ITA Airways, the business now has access to the Lufthansa Group’s not just European network but also international offerings, and with the backing, will be far better suited to establishing routes where demand is present and signing deals with partner airlines.

What a complete acquisition means is that the remaining parts of the operations that remained separate will now be moved entirely to the Lufthansa Group, which will take complete control of aspects such as fleet management, including the neccesary maintenance and upkeep of the fleet, as well as more common practices such as customer services.

Additionally, changes that the Lufthansa Group is making to its businesses will also directly affect ITA Airways. In the initial reporting, it was said that, with 2027 likely to be the first year of the complete takeover, the German Group would then take ITA Airways’ position more seriously.