September: summer is a memory and autumn is a promise, but there is still no trace of the EU Antitrust Authority's go-ahead for the Lufthansa Group's entry into ITA Airways - with a 41% stake.
Brussels' approval of the agreement, reached between the Germans and the Italian Ministry for Economy and Finance (officially signed on 25 May 2023) is actually expected in October, or at the latest by the end of 2023. Certainly, there would still be enough time, but currently “This transaction has not been formally notified to the European Commission,” says a spokesperson for the EU executive, who added: “If a transaction constitutes a concentration and has a European dimension, it is always up to the companies to notify the Commission.” This has still not happened, but it could be that Lufthansa is still hammering out every detail. Or does it still have doubts?
In the middle of August there was even a flashback between the Italian government (to be precise, prime minister Giorgia Meloni) and the MSC group, a protagonist during the initial phase of the sale of the Italian carrier that then withdrew in November 2022, leaving the field open to the Germans
On the other hand, last July it was the Lufthansa Group's senior director of sales Southern Europe, Gabrielle Galantis, who declared that the operation to enter ITA's capital would be “a long journey, starting (precisely, Ed.) with getting the OK from the European Commission.”
In any case a Lufthansa spokesperson reportedly told La Presse that they were “in the process of notifying the transaction” to Brussels, and confident of “obtaining timely authorisation”. We can only wait to see how long it will take for ITA’s livery to join Lufthansa’s.
Mariella Cattaneo
Journalist
