The company EU Commission finally approves Lufthansa's entry into Ita
The European Commission has finally approved Lufthansa's acquisition of the Italian state-owned airline Ita. With the concessions made by the German airline, the conditions for the deal have been fulfilled, the authority announced in Brussels.
30.11.2024, 07:01
SDA
Lufthansa is therefore leaving flight connections in Italy to its competitors Easyjet, Air France-KLM and International Airline Group. With the approval from Brussels, Europe's highest-revenue aviation group has overcome the final hurdle for a stake in Ita.
Both Lufthansa and the Italian Ministry of Finance had to make commitments to the EU Commission for final approval. They had to allow competitors to operate more short and long-haul flights from Italy and transfer take-off and landing rights at Milan-Linate airport.
Initial takeover of 41 percent of the shares planned
It is planned that the German airline will initially take over 41 percent of Ita shares for a capital contribution of 325 million euros. In the course of the next few years, a complete takeover of the former Alitalia could then take place for more than 800 million euros.
The EU Commission had already given the green light for the takeover in principle in June, but specified a number of conditions. These included the fact that take-off and landing rights would have to be handed over to competitors.
Negotiations on Lufthansa's entry into the Italian competition dragged on for more than a year. Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) emerged from the state-owned airline Alitalia in 2020, which had repeatedly run into severe economic turbulence. According to the latest figures, the company has just under 4900 employees.
