Lufthansa CEO sees more scope for European airline consolidation

Lufthansa’s chief executive officer Carsten Spohr said at a news conference on February 3, 2025, that there is “more scope” for further consolidation within the European airline sector, Reuters reported.  

“We have too many airlines in Europe,” said Spohr. “I am convinced consolidation will go on.”

The same day, the group said it has commenced the integration of ITA Airways after recently acquiring a 41% stake in the Italian airline, closing a €325 million deal first disclosed in May 2023. 

“Now that ITA Airways has become a member of our airline family a few days ago, we want to push ahead with the merger quickly," said Spohr in a statement. “We are also confident that ITA Airways will realise profit as early as this year. All in all, we are convinced that today, the start of the integration of ITA Airways into the Lufthansa Group, marks the beginning of a joint success story for customers, employees, and shareholders of ITA Airways and the Lufthansa Group.”  

ITA is set to join the Star Alliance planned for first half of 2026, with it having already initiated the withdrawal from the SkyTeam alliance. From March 30, ITA Airways will move into Terminal 1 in Frankfurt and into Terminal 2 in Munich.   

ITA CEO Joerg Eberhart confirmed that growth would start in 2026, especially with long-term routes, and that the Italian carrier aimed at a larger share of the traffic at Rome's Fiumicino airport, reported Reuters. Eberhart added that the group expected to employ new staff starting from 2026, mainly due to an increase in the size of its fleet.  

In addition, the group recently signed an agreement with airBaltic to receive a convertible share representing 10% of the Latvian state airline which will be issued at a subscription price of €14 million. The convertible share will be changed into ordinary shares upon a potential initial public offering (IPO) from airBaltic.