Less than twenty days, then the green light from the EU Antitrust for the sale of Ita Airways to Lufthansa should become official. The culmination of an operation that had been hypothesized several times in recent decades, albeit in different political and air market contexts – the last in 2019 shortly before the bankruptcy of Alitalia – which will bring the carrier born at the end of 2021 into the third global aviation group (first in Europe). Rumors have leaked out this week, launched by Bloomberg and confirmed by EU sources: the European Antitrust led by Commissioner Margrethe Vestager would be inclined to give the OK with prescriptions to the acquisition of the former Italian flag carrier (now owned by the MEF at 100%) by Lufthansa.
The German carrier in May last year offered 325 million euros to take over 41% of Ita as the first step in the sale. The deadline for the EU decision had been set for 4 July but Brussels’ communication could arrive a few days earlier. Then it will take the rest of the summer to perfect the details of the operation.
The two companies notified the operation in Brussels on 30 November 2023. In the last six months, however, the EU Commission has raised various competition concerns about the operation, especially on those departing from Milan Linate and Fiumicino. Because Lufthansa already owns Austrian, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Eurowing, the purchase of Ita would increase the concentration of routes in its portfolio. A long conversation followed, which at times was not easy.
There is the issue of the routes from Fiumicino to the United States. Ita could initially be barred from entering the joint venture that links the German carrier with United and Air Canada for North America. And then that of the European market, with Ita/Lufthansa which could give up up to twenty slots at Linate to encourage competition. Several low-cost carriers, from EasyJet to Ryanair and WizzAir, may be interested in acquiring the slots left free by the two companies in Italian airports.
Lufthansa aims to acquire what it considers the most important market outside the domestic markets and the United States, due to strong tourist flows. ITA for its part needs a strong industrial partner to continue on its path, with the government having supported the operation. Failure to enter one of the largest aviation groups would have raised the specter of decades of Alitalia management, estimates speak of over 10 billion euros paid by the State into the coffers of the old national airline between the mid-1970s and 2021 to avoid failure.