Lufthansa and ITA Airways: another small step in European consolidation

The recently approved Lufthansa/ITA Airways deal marks another step in the process of European airline consolidation.

However, it is a small step, and the process remains slow. Even adding in the Air France-KLM/SAS and the IAG/Air Europa deals, Europe is significantly less concentrated than North America.

The Lufthansa/ITA deal is expected to complete in 4Q2024, subject to the implementation of the remedies negotiated with the European Commission and also approval by other competition authorities outside the EU.

Lufthansa's interest in ITA is motivated by the size and importance of the Italian market (particularly Milan), ITA's fairly young fleet, and lower labour costs.