Lufthansa could become a majority ITA Airways shareholder by June 2026
Currently, Lufthansa Group has a 41% stake in ITA Airways, with the remainder of the airline's shares being held by the Italian government.
Lufthansa Group has reportedly begun the process to become a majority shareholder of ITA Airways, aiming to acquire another 49% of the Italian airline’s shares, increasing its total stake in the carrier to 90%.
According to a report by the Italian Corriere Della Sera, citing sources familiar with the matter, Lufthansa Group, which currently owns 41% of ITA Airways, splitting the ownership of the airline with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze, MEF), has started work to acquire an additional 49% stake in ITA Airways.
The process could be done by June 30, 2026, with the Germany-based airline group having to pay another €425 million ($499 million) to acquire the majority of ITA Airways’ shares. Corriere Della Sera reported that €100 million ($117.4 million) of that sum is an earnout, based on the Italian carrier’s performance.
In an older presentation, Lufthansa Group detailed that its long-term plan includes a majority shareholding that would enable the two sides to fully synergize their operations, including central aircraft ownership, technical fleet management and maintenance, and financing.
The merger’s plan for 2025 included network optimization, including the introduction of codeshare services, the harmonization of sales, loyalty benefits’ integration, and operational efficiencies.
During the next two years, ITA Airways should become a Star Alliance member – the planned entry date is sometime in H1 2026 – and optimize its leases and maintenance contracts together with the group.
Lufthansa’s H1 2025 results, which included a €127 million (149.1 million) net profit, did not offer many details about ITA Airways’ actual performance during the six-month period. Unlike the other group airlines, which have their own financial segments, the group accounts the Italian airline’s performance as “result from equity investments,” which was €36 million ($42.2 million) in H1 2025.
“The equity investment in ITA Airways positively affected the result due to currency effects in particular, while the result for the Sun Express joint venture [with Turkish Airlines – ed. note] was negative for seasonal reasons.”
Carsten Spohr, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lufthansa Group, said that the “integration of ITA Airways is also rapidly progressing,” with the group’s goal being to integrate ITA Airways as the fifth hub airline.
In addition to Lufthansa, the airline, and ITA Airways, the group also owns Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and their affiliates as its hub carriers, as well as Discover Airlines and Eurowings as its leisure airlines.
The affiliates include Air Dolomiti, Edelweiss Air, Lufthansa CityLine, Lufthansa City Airlines, and the cargo carrier Lufthansa Cargo.
Lufthansa Group, which announced its intention to acquire a minority stake in ITA Airways in May 2023, finalized the transaction in January 2025, via a capital increase of €325 million ($381.3 million), getting its hands on a 41% stake in ITA Airways.
However, the group had to accept the European Commission’s (EC) conditions to finalize the deal, which included enabling competitors to start flying 10 direct short-haul routes from/to specific airports in Italy and Central Europe, giving up 10% of ITA Airways’ slots at Milan Linate Airport (LIN), and facilitating indirect connections from Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Toronto Pearson International Airprot (YYZ), and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
