Photo: Lufthansa Group Official: Italian airline ITA Airways is a new member of the Lufthansa Group.
The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and Europe's leading aviation group finalized the deal today (Fri). As a result, Lufthansa Group now has 41 percent stake in the Italian airline. The remaining 59 percent will initially continue to be held by MEF.
Both sides agreed in May 2023 that Lufthansa would purchase 41% of ITA Airways. The European Commission recently approved the participation by agreeing to the remedies on November 29, 2024. Other competition authorities outside the European Union have also since approved the participation.
The first stage of investment was conducted today through a capital increase of 325 million euros. Options for acquiring the remaining shares of ITA Airways have been agreed upon between Lufthansa Group and MEF and can be exercised starting this year .With today's transaction, ITA Airways is part of the Lufthansa Group and will be the Group's fifth network airline.
Carsten Spohr, Chief Executive Officer Deutsche Lufthansa AG, says: “We are proud to finally welcome ITA Airways to the Lufthansa Group. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this, especially in Rome, Brussels, Berlin and Frankfurt. The ITA Airways team has written an impressive success story in recent years and, with great energy, passion and expertise, has built an airline that is already the pride of an entire nation. We look forward to continuing this success story of ITA Airways together. 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.”
Italy will thereby become another "home market" for the Lufthansa Group. The country is already the second most important international market for the company after the USA, outside of its existing home markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. Rome Fiumicino Airport, a five-star hub, will be the sixth and southernmost hub of the Lufthansa Group. Milan Linate, as a metropolitan airport in the economically strong northern Italy, with the second-largest catchment area in the European Union, will play a prominent role in the group.
Timing of the Integration:
ITA Airways will be maintained as a strong brand and further developed. With today's closing of the transaction, Lufthansa Group and ITA Airways can finalize the initial cooperation agreements for their passengers. Within a few weeks, frequent flyers of ITA Airways will be able to collect their points or miles in ITA Airways' existing "Volare" program or already in Miles & More, Lufthansa Group's loyalty program. In addition, participants in the Miles & More program will have the opportunity to earn and redeem miles on ITA Airways flights. Further cooperations, such as joint codeshare connections, mutual lounge usage, and the planned entry into the Star Alliance aviation alliance, will follow continuously. Additional details will be communicated to customers and partners in due course.
ITA Airways (IATA flight code "AZ") is a young airline that has been growing since it began operations in 2021. Its modern and eco-friendly Airbus fleet currently includes 99 aircraft, including 22 long-haul Airbus A350-900, A330-900neo, and A330-200 aircraft. The Italian airline flies to nearly 70 destinations worldwide. Its home base is Rome Fiumicino (Skytrax 5-Star) and Milan Linate Airport. In 2024, the airline carried about 18 million passengers on its planes.
Joerg Eberhart (54) has been appointed as the new CEO of ITA Airways. He is also a managing member of the board of directors of the Italian airline, based in Rome. In this role, Joerg Eberhart will take over the tasks previously carried out on an interim basis by Antonino Turicchi and Andrea Benassi.
Lorenza Maggio (47) will assume the role of "Chief Strategy and Integration Officer" (CSIO) and become a member of the ITA Airways board of directors. In this capacity, Lorenza Maggio will manage the strategic development of the airline and be responsible for its integration into the Lufthansa Group.
Michael Trestl (39) will be responsible for the holistic integration of ITA Airways into the Lufthansa Group as "ITA Implementation Officer" and will move from Austrian Airlines to the group's headquarters in Frankfurt for this purpose. Michael Trestl has been a member of the board of directors of Austrian Airlines and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) since 2021.
"I am pleased that we can appoint two managers from our ranks to the management of ITA Airways: Joerg Eberhart and Lorenza Maggio," says Carsten Spohr. "
With their extensive experience and expertise, they will continue ITA Airways' successful course and quickly integrate the airline into the Lufthansa Group. With Michael Trestl, an experienced airline manager will take over the integration task in the group.”