Lufthansa Group Is Set to Increase Its Stake In ITA Airways

FRANKFURT — The Lufthansa Group (LH) is exercising its option to acquire a majority stake in Italian ITA Airways (AZ) in June this year.

Lufthansa is increasing its stake to 90%

From January 17, 2025, LH was a minority shareholder in AZ with 41% stake. Once the deal is closed, LH’s stake in the Italian flagship carrier will increase to 90%. The purchase of an additional 49% stake will commence at a previously agreed price of 325 million euros.

The Supervisory Board approved a decision to acquire a second block of shares by the Lufthansa Executive Board at the meeting yesterday.

The transaction is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2027, once necessary regulatory approvals, primarily from the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, are granted.

Following the closing of the deal, the Italian flagship carrier will be fully integrated into the Lufthansa Group, both organizationally and financially.

Gradual ownership transition to Lufthansa Group

An annually occurring option to acquire an additional 49% stake in AZ was included in a purchase agreement between Deutsche Lufthansa AG and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), concluded in June 2023.

The option is now being exercised as Lufthansa is purchasing a majority stake in the Italian national carrier.

The seller and the holder of 10% remaining share in ITA is the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. In 2028, LH Group may also acquire the remaining shares, becoming AZ’s sole owner.

Fastest airline integration in the history of the Lufthansa Group

At the Annual General Meeting, Carsten Spohr, CEO of the Lufthansa Group and Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, described ITA’s integration as the fastest in the Lufthansa Group’s history.

“Following the acquisition of the first 41 percent stake in ITA Airways last year, we promised the fastest airline integration in our history. We aimed to complete all major integration steps into the Lufthansa Group within just 18 months. We have not only kept this promise. We were even faster: All customer-facing interfaces are already integrated today—with the exception of North Atlantic flights, where, as is well known, regulatory approval for our merger is still pending,” said Carsten Spohr

Carsten Spohr also pointed out that ITA’s integration into Lufthansa Group operations is already benefiting both passengers and cargo customers.

“Passengers already experience ITA Airways as an integrated part of the Lufthansa Group. With unified booking, sales, and fare systems, the Miles and More frequent flyer program, Star Alliance membership, and access to our global network of premium lounges. Integration is also progressing in the cargo business. Since last year, Lufthansa Cargo has been marketing ITA Airways’ cargo capacity, which alone corresponds to the additional capacity of three Boeing 777 freighters. In light of this success story, we decided to exercise our option to acquire an additional 49 percent stake as early as June of this year.”