The European Commission has given final approval for Lufthansa to acquire a 41% stake in Italy’s ITA Airways, following the approval of a remedies package designed to address competition concerns.
The deal, valued at €325m, will allow Lufthansa to expand its footprint in the southern European market while addressing antitrust requirements.
The remedies package involves the allocation of slots and routes to competing airlines. EasyJet has been granted access to slots at Milan Linate Airport, along with rights to operate additional short-haul routes. For long-haul routes, Lufthansa has reached agreements with IAG (the parent company of British Airways and Iberia) and Air France-KLM, enabling these carriers to expand services from Italy to destinations such as the United States.
The Commission confirmed that the selected remedy-takers meet its criteria of being independent from Lufthansa and ITA while presenting themselves as viable competitors. EasyJet has already announced plans to open new bases in Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate to capitalise on these new opportunities.
Lufthansa plans to finalise the acquisition of the 41% stake by early 2025, with an option to take full ownership of ITA in the future. ITA Airways, the successor to the bankrupt Alitalia, is expected to exit the SkyTeam alliance and join the Lufthansa-led Star Alliance after the capital investment is complete. This transition would align ITA more closely with Lufthansa Group airlines, such as Swiss, Austrian, and Brussels Airlines.
The approval comes nearly a year after the proposal was first notified to the European Commission, following an in-depth investigation into its competitive impact.