Lufthansa is awaiting a decision by the European Commission to approve its purchase of Italian national carrier ITA Airways.
Three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told reuters.com that regulators were leaning towards approving the deal after threatening to block the sale in February this year. There were fears that the acquisition could result in insufficient competition on short-haul flights between Italy and central Europe as well as on key long-haul routes between Italy and North America, Japan and India.
If the deal is approved by the EC, Lufthansa will gain a 41% stake in ITA for €325 million (R6,6 billion). The German carrier has submitted its final proposed package of measures to address the concerns raised by the EC, indicating that it would not offer any further concessions and would potentially walk away from the deal if regulators did not grant approval, reports travelpulse.com.
Lufthansa has made several concessions to secure the green light from the EC, agreeing to let two competing airlines take over some of ITA’s long-haul flights to the US by turning them into flights with a stopover in other European cities. The company will also hand over ITA’s direct flights to North America to another airline.
A Lufthansa spokesperson said: “We are in good and constructive dialogue with the Commission.” The EC is set to decide on the deal this month, before the July 4 deadline.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had hoped the decision would be finalised before the original deadline of June 6 so that the airline could take advantage of the peak European travel season.
