European Commission approves Lufthansa deal with Italy’s ITA

The European Commission has authorised the entry of Germany’s Lufthansa into Italian state-owned ITA Airways after more than a year of negotiations.

With the package of remedies proposed by the German carrier, the conditions for the deal had been fulfilled, the commission announced in Brussels on Saturday.

Under the concessions, Lufthansa will leave flight connections in Italy to its competitors Easyjet, Air France-KLM and International Airline Group.

With the green light from Brussels, Europe’s highest-revenue air transport group overcame the final hurdle for an investment in ITA.

Both Lufthansa and the Italian Finance Ministry had to make commitments to the EU’s executive arm for the final approval. This meant allowing competitors to operate more short and long-haul flights from Italy and transfer take-off and landing rights at Milan-Linate airport.

The plan is for the German airline to initially acquire 41% of ITA’s shares for a capital contribution of €325 million ($343 million).

In the course of the next few years, a complete takeover of the airline could then take place for more than €800 million.

Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) was formed in 2020 from the financially troubled, state-owned airline Alitalia. According to the latest figures, the company has just under 4,900 employees.