The end of 2024 coincides with the closing of the circle on the ITA Airways-Lufthansa versus EU Antitrust affair. On 29 November Brussels gave its unconditional approval to the transaction with the two parties entering into an agreement and the German group acquiring an initial 41% stake in ITA's capital.
Having closed a chapter, that to describe as tormented would be an oversimplification, 2025 will start for the newborn group with a new industrial plan. But not before mid-January when Lufthansa and the Italian Ministry of the Economy (still ITA's sole shareholder) will have signed the deal and both partners will start writing new chapters of a shared history that, from that day forward, will culminate with the total integration between ITA and Lufthansa, probably within a couple of years.
Concretely the first steps will be towards the start-up of codeshare flights with the members of the LH group (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings/Discover) and the networking of the respective loyalty programmes (Volare and Miles&More). The Germans consider all-round cost optimization and the enhancement of ITA's revenue management—two of its weakest areas—to be their primary focus.
Within the framework of the group's future multi-hub system, a new role will be played by Air Dolomiti, the Italian airline of the LH group, indicated as a feeder for ITA's long-haul flights departing from Rome Fiumicino. "However, there will also be ongoing work with SkyAlps, a regional airline based in Bolzano (Alto Adige), which could instead feed Fiumicino from medium-small airports. And while efforts to define a new network continue without pause - between expansion on the one hand and the revision of unprofitable or non-strategic routes on the other – the new year promises to bring exciting developments.
Mariella Cattaneo
Journalist
