After months of negotiations with the Italian government, one thing is certain: Lufthansa is buying a minority stake in the state-owned ITA Airways. Lufthansa boss Spohr spoke of a “win-win situation”.
After lengthy negotiations with the Italian state, Lufthansa has acquired a stake in the airline ITA Airways. According to media reports, the German MDax group is to pay between 320 and 330 million euros into the company’s equity for an initial 40 percent stake. Both sides confirmed the basic agreement without first mentioning a sum.
According to the reports, another 500 million euros should flow after the planned return to profitability for another 50 to 55 percent of the shares. The Italian state would remain on board for the time being – contrary to Lufthansa’s initial plan. The deal is subject to competition law reviews at national and European level.
Flight operations taken over by Alitalia
Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA), founded in 2020, took over the flight operations of the insolvent predecessor Alitalia in October 2021, but is not its legal successor. However, the ITA has secured take-off and landing rights as well as the trademark rights.
The legendary Alitalia name could possibly soon be reactivated under the new corporate umbrella. Lufthansa strategy chief Jörg Eberhart, who has already headed the regional subsidiary Air Dolomiti active in northern Italy, is under discussion as the new ITA boss.
Millions lost last year
Last year, with a turnover of almost 1.6 billion euros, ITA made a loss of 486 million euros. At the end of March, the company cited the aftermath of the corona pandemic, the increased fuel costs as a result of the Ukraine war and the poor euro-dollar exchange rate as the reason for the red figures.
For 2027, 94 aircraft and a turnover of 4.1 billion euros are now being targeted. Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr spoke of a “win-win situation” for Italy, ITA and his company. He wants to bring the lean Alitalia successor with its young fleet into the profit zone through higher capacity utilization, cheaper purchasing and better flight coordination.
Portuguese TAP next takeover target?
Lufthansa has wanted to gain a foothold in its second most important foreign market for many years. An attempt started in 2009 under the name Lufthansa Italia came to an end in 2011. At the moment, the group is only attracting transfer passengers from wealthy northern Italy to the Munich hub with Air Dolomiti flights. With ITA, Lufthansa is now acquiring market shares in the environment dominated by external low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG has already taken over the former state airlines of the neighboring countries of Switzerland, Austria and Belgium and continued to operate them as independent brands. The Belgian Sabena successor Brussels Airlines had taken over Lufthansa in two stages and initially also started with a minority. Another possible takeover target is the Portuguese TAP.