Europe’s biggest airline group has announced it will be taking majority control of Italy’s ITA Airways. The €325 million deal is set to go through in June 2026.
In January 2025, Lufthansa acquired a 41% minority stake in Italy’s ITA Airways, while the Italian government retained 59% of the airline. At the time, the deal included the right for Lufthansa to gradually increase its ownership over time.
“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, CEO of the Lufthansa Group and Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, at Lufthansa’s Annual General Meeting.
On 12 May 2026, Lufthansa announced it would be exercising its option to acquire a majority stake in ITA Airways just one year after the initial deal. The second block of shares, which will give Lufthansa a 90% stake in the Italian carrier, will be acquired for €325 million from the Italian government. According to the group, its Supervisory Board approved the decision by the Lufthansa Executive Board at a meeting on 11 May 2026.
“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,” added Spohr.
Although the deal should take place in June 2026, the transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals. Both the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will need to agree, which means the transaction should close during the first quarter of 2027.
Once the matter has been approved, ITA Airways will become fully integrated into the Lufthansa Group, both organisationally and financially. The Italian government will keep 10% of ITA Airways’ shares, but it is not impossible that Lufthansa might be purchasing the remaining shares in the future, which would result in full ownership.
TAP Air Portugal
At the moment of writing, Lufthansa is also competing with Air France-KLM to purchase a 49.9% minority share in TAP Air Portugal. Given the upcoming ITA Airways purchase, however, Air France-KLM’s chances of taking a stake in TAP Air Portugal might have just improved. Previously, EU regulators already raised concerns about competition on intra-European, transatlantic, and South American routes, while the Portuguese authorities want Lisbon to remain a central, global hub.
