Lufthansa poised to acquire ITA Airways by end of April

Lufthansa will get a chance to buy ITA Airways after the winner of the previous bidding, Air France/KLM, refused to bid on ITA again,

Lufthansa had been interested in purchasing ITA Airways for quite a while and lost out in the previous bidding for the Italian carrier. However, due to political factors in Italy, the airline got thrown into the buyer’s arena once more.

Since Italy has a new government, previous transactions surrounding ITA Airways have come under additional scrutiny, leading to the dismissal of management and reevaluation of the company's sale.

Lufthansa is primarily interested in the lucrative Italian routes, and it is foreseen that the plan is most likely to spin it into another low-cost subsidiary as they already have done with many other brands.

The EU will have to vet and clear this purchase, and should it go through, Lufthansa would have to deal with tough restrictions when it comes to what they can do with the airline.

ITA has just reported a net loss of nearly half a billion euros for the 2022 financial year.