ITA Airways has become the fifth member airline of the Lufthansa Group. The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the German airline group have finalized Lufthansa’s 41 percent stake in the Italian carrier. The remaining 59 percent will continue to be held by MEF for the present.
The transaction, which was announced in May 2023, has been cleared by regulators at the European Commission and by other antitrust and aviation authorities globally. Under the terms of the agreement, Deutsche Lufthansa AG has invested €325 million in ITA Airways. Options for the remaining shares have been agreed between the Lufthansa Group and MEF and can be exercised beginning this year.
ITA Airways started operations in 2021 with an all-Airbus fleet of 99 aircraft flying to almost 70 destinations around the world welcoming around 18 million passengers in 2024. With the conclusion of the transaction, Italy will become an additional “home market” for the Lufthansa Group.
The country is already the company’s second most important international market after the US, outside the existing home markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. ITA Airway’s home base of Rome Fiumicino the Lufthansa Group’s sixth and southernmost hub airport, while the airline’s operations at Milan-Linate will play a prominent role in the Group.
“We are proud to finally welcome ITA Airways to the Lufthansa Group,” Carsten Spohr, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said. “With our investment, we will now strengthen the Italian and European aviation market and the position of the Lufthansa Group as number one in Europe. Our joint passengers worldwide will benefit from improved offers and optimized connections as early as this upcoming summer flight schedule.”
With the agreement finalized, ITA Airways frequent flyers will soon be able to collect their points or miles either in ITA Airways’ existing “Volare” program or already in the Lufthansa Group’s Miles & More program. In addition, Miles & More participants will have the opportunity to earn and redeem miles on ITA Airways flights.
Other features of the combination, such as joint codeshare connections, mutual lounge use and ITA Airways’ admission to the Star Alliance will be announced in the months ahead.
