By Angelo Amante ROME (Reuters) -There is scope for further consolidation in the European airline sector, the chief executive of Germany's Lufthansa said on Monday, having just bought a 41% stake in
Lufthansa CEO Predicts More European Airline Consolidation
By Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) - There is scope for more consolidation in Europe's airline sector, the chief executive of Germany's Lufthansa said on Monday, having just bought a 41% stake in Italy's state-owned ITA Airways.
Lufthansa paid 325 million euros ($332 million) for the ITA deal and last week agreed to buy a 10% stake in Latvian airline airBaltic. It is also exploring the possibility of acquiring a minority stake in Spanish carrier Air Europa.
"We have too many airlines in Europe," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in the first press conference with ITA representatives since the tie-up with the successor airline to bankrupt Alitalia was finalised three weeks ago.
"We believe strongly in the potential of ITA Airways, we believe in the strength of Italy, of its economy, of its people," Spohr said at Rome's Fiumicino airport, adding Lufthansa was aiming to make ITA profitable from this year.
Lufthansa is moving to expand its European presence and gain access to more planes to relieve its supply constraints, as it prepares to boost its presence in the southern European market.
When Lufthansa last year agreed its purchase of a minority stake in ITA with the Italian government, it said it was looking to acquire full control at a later date. For now, Italy's Economy Minister remains in control of 59% of the airline.
Spohr said there were no plans to up the stake in ITA to as much as 90% in 2025, and added the airline was expected to join Lufthansa's Star Alliance by early 2026, as its loyalty programme gets integrated with the German carrier's.
Newly-appointed ITA CEO Joerg Eberhart said the Italian carrier would grow in 2026 with new hirings and a focus on long-haul routes, aiming to capture a larger share of the traffic at Fiumicino airport, its main hub.
As well as ITA, the Lufthansa Group includes Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines.
($1 = 0.9778 euros)
(Reporting by Angelo Amante. Writing by Giulia Segreti. Editing by Keith Weir, Alvise Armellini and Mark Potter)
