Ita, Lufthansa will buy between 20 and 40% for 250-300 mln. Hypothesis use of the Alitalia brand

Listen to the audio version of the article

In the memorandum signed between the Treasury and Lufthansa, the share of Ita Airways for sale “is between 20 and 40%”. It is learned from sources close to the dossier, according to which in the end the German group “will buy 40% for an outlay between 250 and 300 million euros”. In any case, Ita “will not feed the Frankfurt and Munich hubs in favor of Lufthansa on the routes to North America”, which have always been considered the most profitable. “Ita will not trust Lufthansa”, explain sources close to the dossier, underlining that “Frankfurt no longer has the capacity” to handle other passengers.

The return of the Alitalia brand

«It was a wise decision to buy the Alitalia brand» by Ita. “Perhaps in the long term in 5-10 years, someone seeing that Ita has become profitable and is growing, could think about dusting off the old Alitalia brand”. In short, the negotiation between the Treasury and Lufthansa for the sale of a minority stake in Ita “is proceeding well” and the aim is to “sign the preliminary sale agreement as soon as possible” and then “quickly get the go-ahead from the EU Commission” . The government wants Lufthansa to take operational control “as soon as possible so that Ita can benefit from the group’s synergies as soon as possible”, the sources underline, explaining that “Lufthansa’s operational entry into Ita is expected for the summer ». The unions’ request for an increase in the salaries of Ita workers “is not an obstacle” to the negotiations between the Treasury and Lufthansa for the purchase of a minority stake in the newco.

Passenger sorting

So “Italian passengers will be able to continue to fly with Ita to the United States directly from Italy”, as is the case with the other hubs of the group: Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zurich and Brussels, “from which you fly to the United States” . According to the same sources, the European Commission «is not in an easy position. They asked the Italian government to sell Ita, the Italian government is doing exactly what they said and now they won’t be able to say: you can’t sell it anymore”, so the operation “will get the green light from the Commission”. Fiumicino “will be the hub for Latin America and Africa because it will be the southernmost hub among those in the Lufthansa network”. According to the sources, “it is an advantage to be an hour and a half closer to the southern hemisphere than the other hubs in the network”.