Two industrial plans – one drawn up by ITA Airways and one by Lufthansa Airline – for the period 2023-2027 will be examined soon.
The mediation document “will end up in the preliminary agreement which, barring any hitches, will be signed in the second half of March and which aims to bring Lufthansa into the minority (40%).” Additionally, Il Corriere daily reported, “there is no more time to lose and Lufthansa has remained the last option to give to ITA a future.”
The Role of Fiumicino and the Collaboration with Delta – Air France
Experts underline that Lufthansa’s goal would be: “Almost miraculous to make an airline profitable which in its previous life, Alitalia, almost never made a profit.”
But they recall that with “this move, the Germans would invest in a market – the Italian one – which is worth 19 billion euros (in 2019), [and] they could bring a historic brand (Alitalia) back to the surface and use Fiumicino (Rome–Fiumicino International Airport, commonly known as Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport) as a hub for the southern hemisphere.
With Milan Linate Airport and Malpensa Airport, the group would expand its presence in an area which, within a 2-hour’s drive from the airports, “reaches” 19.5 million people and 737 billion euro of GDP. In recent days, Lufthansa’s emissaries “have been in the ITA headquarters for other expert sessions.”
There is also the need to organize the operation of the ‘interregnum’ period which falls in the period where the sector records the greatest gains: the summer season (end of March – end of October). French-American sources revealed that Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM have announced to ITA the stop to the collaboration which brings 270 million euros in revenues to the coffers of ITA.
For this reason, ITA could take measures by signing a special prorate agreement with United Airlines and “save” 200 million. Sources from the Directorate General for EU Competition explained “that an informal discussion started with Italians and Germans on the dossier.”
The offices led by Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is anticipated to give the go-ahead between the second half of July and the beginning of August. The real business plan will take into account the corrections from Brussels which, it is almost certain, will also concern the release of some slots at Fiumicino, Linate, and Frankfurt Airports.
It is only at that point that Lufthansa will be able to start managing ITA, aiming immediately to reduce losses through commercial and industrial synergies. The Germans want to “make Rome Fiumicino the group’s fifth hub – together with Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, and Vienna – and fly ITA to Africa and expand it in North and South America with the latter back in the limelight with the decision of IAG (holding company of British Airways and Iberia) to take over all of Air Europa – present in that part of the globe – taking over the other 80% for 400 million.
The offer from Air France-KLM for TAP Air Portugal is expected in the coming weeks. Once Lufthansa is in as an ITA shareholder, it “will have to move to Star Alliance, but this will take a few months.” The greatest benefits in the North Atlantic are expected from ITA’s entry into “A++” – Lufthansa’s transatlantic joint venture with United Airlines and Air Canada airline.
The go-ahead, especially from the US Department of Transportation, should arrive no earlier than the summer of 2024. The joint venture is the commercial agreement preferred by the carriers, because it allows those who join to plan together the routes, frequencies, timetables, tariffs, managing customers, and sharing – each for his part – costs, revenues, and profits.”
The 9th Edition of Travel Hashtag
Meanwhile in London, ITA Airways took part in the ninth edition of the Travel Hashtag on February 27, the traveling event conference that kicked off its program of initiatives for 2023 right from the capital of the United Kingdom. As the official carrier of the London stage, ITA is one of the main partners and protagonists of the event which will be staged at the Melia White House in the heart of London and will be dedicated to promoting tourism in Italy.
ITA Airways adheres to the Travel Hashtag initiative to promote Italy and “Made in Italy” to the main travel agencies and tour operators in the English market. “The national airline shares the importance of creating a system on international markets together with operators in the tourism industry, who can count on ITA, thanks to the commitment to developing connectivity to and from Italy.”
The UK is one of the carrier’s most strategic markets in Europe. With more than 90 weekly flights between London and the 2 hubs of Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate operated in the current winter season, ITA aims to be the carrier enjoying the highest market share.
