Lufthansa Acquires 90% Majority Stake in Italy's ITA Airways for €325 Million, Reshaping European Aviation and Unlocking Powerful New Rome Hub Connections for Global Travelers

Published on May 13, 2026

European aviation will never look quite the same again. Lufthansa Group — the continent's largest airline conglomerate, already commanding Austria, Brussels, Swiss, and Eurowings under its corporate umbrella — has announced its intention to acquire a 90% majority stake in Italy's ITA Airways for €325 million, a landmark transaction that fundamentally reshapes the competitive architecture of the European airline industry. Italy's government, which had retained a 59% majority stake in ITA since the airline's 2020 launch as Alitalia's successor, will hold just a 10% minority position following the deal's completion — expected by mid-2026, pending regulatory approval from both the European Union and the United States. For travelers, the implications are transformative: Rome's Fiumicino Airport is poised to become a genuinely powerful Lufthansa Group hub with dramatically enhanced connectivity to Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna, and the group's extraordinary global network. Italy is about to become the most connected it has ever been — and every global traveler who has dreamed of seamless Rome connections is about to benefit enormously.

Quick Summary:

• Lufthansa Group has announced its intent to acquire a 90% majority stake in ITA Airways (Italy's national carrier) for €325 million, exercising its option to move from a 41% minority stake (held since January 2025) to majority control.
• The Italian government, which previously held 59% of ITA Airways, will retain a 10% minority stake following the transaction's completion.
• Deal timeline: Expected to complete by mid-2026, subject to regulatory approval from the European Union and the United States Department of Transportation.
• Strategic rationale: The acquisition fortifies Lufthansa's position in Southern Europe, transforms Rome Fiumicino into a major group hub, and enhances long-haul competitiveness, particularly on transatlantic routes.
• ITA Airways background: Launched in 2020 as the successor to the bankrupt Alitalia, ITA has struggled with financial instability — Lufthansa's full integration provides financial backing, network access, and operational scale.
• Competition impact: The deal positions Lufthansa Group more aggressively against Air France-KLM and International Airlines Group (IAG) across key European and intercontinental markets.
• Traveler benefit: Seamless connectivity between Italian airports and Lufthansa Group's global network — from Rome to Tokyo, New York, Sydney, and beyond — through Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna, and Brussels hubs.

Why This Deal Changes Everything for European Aviation

To fully appreciate the significance of Lufthansa's ITA Airways acquisition, it is worth understanding the broader context of European airline industry consolidation — and why Italy has been the most consequential missing piece in that picture.

Europe's aviation market has been progressively consolidating around three dominant airline groups: Lufthansa Group (commanding Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium), Air France-KLM (dominating France, the Netherlands, and increasingly Scandinavia through SAS acquisition), and International Airlines Group (controlling British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, and Aer Lingus across the UK, Spain, and Ireland).

Until now, Italy — the fourth-largest economy in the European Union, home to one of the world's most visited destinations, and a market generating tens of millions of annual international arrivals — remained outside any of these groups' direct control. Alitalia's 2020 bankruptcy and ITA's subsequent struggle as its successor left the Italian aviation market unusually fragmented and competitively constrained.

Lufthansa's €325 million majority acquisition of ITA changes this fundamental structural reality in a single transaction.

From Alitalia's Ashes to Lufthansa's Network: ITA Airways' Remarkable Journey

ITA Airways' story is one of the most dramatic in recent European aviation history — born from the spectacular collapse of one of the world's most storied airline brands and shaped by the political complexity of Italian aviation policy.

Alitalia — founded in 1946 and for decades one of the great names in international aviation — entered its final crisis years in the 2010s, unable to achieve the operational efficiency and revenue balance needed to sustain a modern international carrier in an increasingly competitive European market. Despite multiple government bailouts and restructuring attempts, Alitalia filed for bankruptcy in 2020, ending 74 years of continuous operation.

ITA Airways launched in October 2021 as a deliberately smaller, more focused successor — taking over Alitalia's key routes and airport slots while shedding the legacy carrier's enormous cost base. The Italian government retained full ownership initially, with the explicit strategy of finding a strategic partner through a competitive sale process.

Lufthansa's initial 41% minority stake in January 2025 — acquired after a competitive process that also attracted Air France-KLM and MSC Group — was always understood as the first phase of a pathway to full control. The announcement of the 90% majority acquisition at €325 million is the natural and anticipated second phase of that strategic partnership.

Rome Fiumicino: From Underutilized to Lufthansa Group's Southern European Powerhouse

The most transformative geographic consequence of the Lufthansa–ITA deal for global travelers is what it means for Rome's Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport (FCO).

Fiumicino is already one of Europe's most important airports by passenger volume — the primary gateway to one of the world's most visited cities and the natural hub for Italy's extraordinary domestic aviation market connecting Rome to Milan, Naples, Palermo, and Catania. But as an ITA Airways hub under a struggling standalone carrier, Fiumicino's connectivity potential has been significantly underutilized compared to its geographic and market scale.

Under Lufthansa Group management, Fiumicino is expected to evolve into a genuine Southern European hub — complementing Frankfurt (Lufthansa's primary global hub), Zurich (Swiss International's hub), Vienna (Austrian Airlines' hub), and Brussels (Brussels Airlines' hub) as interconnected spokes in the Lufthansa Group's continental network.

For travelers connecting through Rome to Lufthansa Group destinations — whether heading onward to Tokyo on ANA (a Star Alliance partner), to New York on Lufthansa's own transatlantic services, or to Johannesburg on South African Airways connections — the enhanced Fiumicino hub position means dramatically more convenient routing options through Italy's extraordinary capital city.

Rome is, after all, one of the world's most magnificent places to have a layover — the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, and the extraordinary trattorias of Trastevere make even a few connecting hours in this city an experience worth building an itinerary around.

The Competitive Calculus: How Lufthansa Reshapes Its Rivalry with Air France-KLM and IAG

Lufthansa's majority control of ITA Airways dramatically reshapes the competitive landscape across three dimensions of critical strategic importance.

Mediterranean market dominance: Italy is the most visited country in Europe by many measures — Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Amalfi, Sicily, and the Italian Lakes collectively generate a staggering volume of inbound international tourism. Lufthansa's control of Italy's national carrier gives the group direct operational authority over the most desirable Southern European aviation market that had previously remained outside any major group's network.

Transatlantic competition: The Rome–North America corridor is one of the world's most commercially valuable long-haul aviation markets. Lufthansa Group, with ITA's Rome hub under its control, can now compete more aggressively with American Airlines/IAG's Oneworld partnership and Delta/Air France-KLM's SkyTeam alliance for transatlantic Italy traffic — routing premium passengers through Rome connections that previously lost market share to competing hub-based alternatives.

Star Alliance strengthening: ITA Airways has been provisionally aligned with the Star Alliance network through Lufthansa's partnership arrangement. Full integration into Lufthansa Group will almost certainly accelerate ITA's full Star Alliance membership — dramatically expanding the mileage earn and redemption options available to the world's 800+ million Star Alliance frequent flyers on ITA-operated services across Italy.

What the €325 Million Price Tag Tells Us About ITA's Strategic Value

The €325 million acquisition price for a 49% additional stake (moving from 41% to 90%) values ITA Airways at approximately €722 million in total enterprise terms — a figure that reflects both the airline's genuine strategic asset value and the considerable operational challenges it continues to face.

ITA's core strategic assets are clear and compelling: the Rome Fiumicino hub position, the valuable airport slot portfolio at Italy's primary airports (including Linate in Milan), the Italian domestic route network, and the long-haul route structure connecting Rome to New York, Miami, São Paulo, Tokyo, and other high-value destinations.

The financial challenges are equally clear: ITA has operated at a loss since its 2021 launch, requiring continued capital injection and restructuring to achieve profitability. Lufthansa's financial strength — the group generated revenues exceeding €35 billion in recent years — provides the capital backstop that ITA needs to execute its recovery plan without the existential financial pressure that has constrained the airline since inception.

ITA Airways CEO Joerg Eberhart has publicly stated that Lufthansa's full acquisition represents the critical turning point for ITA's competitive transformation — providing not just financial stability but access to Lufthansa Group's procurement scale, maintenance infrastructure, crew training systems, and global distribution power.

Guide for Travelers:

• Rome connections from Lufthansa hubs: As integration progresses, expect expanded connecting flight options between Rome Fiumicino and Lufthansa Group's Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna, and Brussels hubs — offering more routing flexibility for transatlantic and intercontinental itineraries that previously required less convenient hub transfers.
• Miles and rewards: If you're a Miles & More (Lufthansa's loyalty program) member, monitor announcements about ITA Airways joining the full Miles & More earn/redemption framework — this will significantly expand your Italy-based mileage opportunities.
• Star Alliance travelers: Keep watch for ITA Airways' progression toward full Star Alliance membership as Lufthansa integration deepens — unlocking status recognition, lounge access, and partner redemption options across ITA's Italy network for all Star Alliance Gold and Silver members.
• Italy travel tips for 2026: Book early for Rome, Florence, Venice, and the Amalfi Coast — Italy's extraordinary 2026 summer season is seeing record international demand. ITA's network covers these destinations from major international connections.
• Best time to visit Rome: April–June and September–October offer Rome at its most magnificent — comfortable temperatures, manageable crowds, and the full splendor of the Eternal City's museums, piazzas, and outdoor dining culture.
• Fiumicino airport tips: Rome Fiumicino's Terminal 1 (domestic/Schengen) and Terminal 3 (intercontinental) are efficiently connected. The Leonardo Express train connects FCO to Rome Termini station in 32 minutes — the fastest and most comfortable way to reach the city center from the airport.
• Best Italy destinations for first-time visitors: Rome (Vatican, Colosseum), Florence (Uffizi, Duomo), Venice (Grand Canal, Murano), the Amalfi Coast (Positano, Ravello), and the Cinque Terre — all accessible via ITA's growing domestic network from Fiumicino.

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The acquisition of ITA Airways by Lufthansa Group is not simply a financial transaction — it is a reshaping of the European aviation map that every global traveler should understand and celebrate. Italy, the land of the Colosseum and the Uffizi, of Positano's pastel cliffs and Venice's impossible beauty, of truffles and Barolo and the world's greatest Renaissance art collection, is about to become dramatically more accessible through one of the world's finest airline networks. Rome Fiumicino as a genuine Lufthansa Group hub means more routes, more seamless connections, and more reasons to build Italy into every intercontinental itinerary. ITA Airways, freed from the financial anxiety that has constrained it since Alitalia's collapse, will emerge from this partnership as a carrier with the backing to genuinely compete — and to serve Italy's extraordinary destinations with the quality and reliability that one of the world's most beloved countries truly deserves.

Disclaimer: All deal details are based on Lufthansa Group's official public announcement as of May 13, 2026. The transaction remains subject to European Union and US regulatory approval. Final terms and timeline may be subject to revision pending regulatory review outcomes.