The EU’s final decision on sale of Ita to Lufthansa postponed to July 4th. In fact, yesterday the German airline sent the European Commission a corrective offer which it defines as “significantly improved” in the context of the second phase of the competition authority’s investigation into the proposed acquisition of Ita.
Revised package the company explains, “responds to Commission concerns on short and long-haul flights, as well as on the concentration in Milan Linate airport”. Now it will take time to analyze the proposals presented. By the time the new deadline expires, more than a year will have passed since, at the end of May 2023, Lufthansa presented the proposal to acquire 41% of the former Alitalia from the Mef as the first step towards the sale.
At the center of the dispute is the possible position of prevalence on the market that the group could have on some routes, such as those departing from the Milan city airport. Lufthansa already has Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Eurowings in its portfolio. The compagnie low cost they are interested in one possible transfer of slots at Fiumicino, above all Ryanair, and Linate, for which EasyJet is very interested.
“We expect a positive decision on Ita from the EU Commission in the summer. The merger will bring benefits to everyone: consumers who will have more choice and connections; Ita which can become profitable, greater competition in the Italian market; Lufthansa which will have better access to Italian market, it is very important for us”, commented the CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr during the meeting of the Group’s shareholders.
“Putting Lufthansa and Ita together will not increase the share that Ita has, therefore all 22 pairs of Lufthansa Group slots they will be subject to release”, explains the president of Ita Antonino Turicchi.
“We have worked hard to be able to meet – he adds – the objections raised and we believe that the work we have done is such as to have the green light for the operation”. The manager underlines: “Ita doesn’t burn cash, it produces cash. We are making important numbers and this year we believe we can have a profit at a balance sheet level, last year we obtained an operating profit and now we will have an operating profit” .
A different evaluation comes from Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, the carrier with the highest number of passengers in Italy, who speaking to the media in Brussels identified the merger between companies as the only possibility of sustainability for Ita’s accounts.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, speaking to Politico, he warns “If the serious competition problems cannot be resolved, we cannot approve the transaction. Companies must find remedies.”