European Commission approves Lufthansa’s share in ITA Airways
December 2, 2024
The European Commission (EC) has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, three suitable ‘remedy takers’ to allow Lufthansa and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to acquire joint control over ITA Airways. With easyJet, IAG and Air France-KLM approved as appropriate candidates, Lufthansa and the MEF are now able to implement the proposed transaction.
The ruling builds on previous conditional approval from the EC competition authorities in July 2024, highlighting that the transaction would result in reduced competition on certain short-haul and long-haul routes, as well as creating or strengthening “ITA’s dominant position at the Milan-Linate airport, which could have made it harder for rivals to provide passenger air transport services” to and from the airport.
As such, a remedy package – including allowing one or two rivals to operate certain routes, and transferring slot allocation at Milan-Linate – was deemed essential to allowing the transaction to proceed. At the time, EC executive vice-president in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager commented: “The package of remedies proposed by Lufthansa and the MEF on this cross-border deal fully addresses our competition concerns by ensuring that a sufficient level of competitive pressure remains on all relevant routes”.
EasyJet has now been appointed as the remedy-taker for the short-haul routes and for the re-allocation of take-off and landing slots at Milan-Linate. IAG and Air France-KLM will serve as remedy-takers for the long-haul commitments.
The approval of the three airlines marks the culmination of an in-depth investigation instigated in January, following the Commission’s notification of the proposed transaction in November 2023.
