Alitalia’s successor ITA Airways would like to become part of the Lufthansa Group, the airline’s chairman of the board of directors Alfredo Altavilla told the German business newspaper Handelsblatt on November 17, 2021.
“It would be wrong to remain independent because we would always be too small compared to the three big airline groups operating in Europe. We are a pretty bachelorette who has many admirers,” Altavilla explained.
Thus, Altavilla believes “that Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) will be one of those handsome and rich admirers who might be interested in ITA Airways”.
ITA-Airways-Präsident im Interview : Italiens neue Staatsairline umwirbt Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA): „Es wäre falsch, eigenständig zu bleiben“ https://t.co/b74kK2tNDf
— Markus Fasse (@MarkusFasse) November 17, 2021
AeroTime has asked ITA Airways and Lufthansa Group for a comment.
On October 15, 2021, a spokesperson for Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) told Reuters that it was open for a commercial partnership with ITA Airways. But almost two weeks later, ITA Airways announced that it has joined the SkyTeam alliance, to which Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) does not belong.
“For more than 20 years, the Italian market has been a cornerstone of SkyTeam’s European network and no other airline alliance connects Italy better to the world. We warmly welcome ITA Airways’ decision to join our alliance and ensure continuity of service for the millions of customers who choose SkyTeam as their preferred alliance to Italy,” said Walter Cho, SkyTeam Chairman.
The successor of loss-making Alitalia, Italy’s new national airline ITA Airways, commenced its commercial operations on October 15, 2021.
ITA Airways began operations with a network of 44 destinations and 59 routes, which it intends to increase to 74 destinations and 89 routes by 2025. Currently, the airline has a total of 52 aircraft in its fleet. However, ITA Airways plans to grow its fleet to 78 aircraft in 2022 and 105 in 2025.