EU demands: What does Lufthansa still have to offer to take over ITA?

The Lufthansa Group has submitted concessions to the EU Commission several times to enter into ITA Airways. But it wasn't enough. Like a newspaper Corriere della Sera The German aviation group's deadline for further improvements reportedly expires on Tuesday, May 21.

The newspaper learned what the European Commission expects from three different sources. Accordingly, Lufthansa and ITA are so far willing to give up 11 to 12 percent of their places at Milan Linate Airport. On the other hand, competition authorities demand that 30% of take-off and landing spaces be given up.

Long term partners

In total, the EU Commission is said to have initially viewed 39 roads as problematic. A solution has now been found for 22 of these methods, but not yet for 17 of them. Twelve short-haul routes from Milan-Linate/Rome-Fiumicino to Central Europe and five long-haul routes from Rome-Fiumicino to North America.

Long flights are also said to be the biggest problem for the Lufthansa Group. Although it does not fly from Italy to North America itself, its joint venture partners United Airlines and Air Canada offer flights to Italy. But ITA will not stop its transatlantic routes and Lufthansa will not withdraw from the joint venture.

What could the solution look like?

According to Corriere's sources, the solution could be as follows: for Lufthansa to give up its income from Italian routes to the joint venture for a few years – or income from ITA's flights in North America. In the second case, according to the newspaper's calculations last year, it would have been about 205 million euros that Lufthansa would lose in ITA, based on the Germans' planned entry into the Italian airline with an initial 41 percent stake.