Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr is “optimistic” about the business securing a stake in Italian airline ITA Airways as the European Commissions nears a crucial stage of its investigation into the deal.
Speaking on 20 March in Brussels at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Aviation Summit, Spohr insisted politicians understand the need for ITA to become part of a large European airline group to secure the Italian flag carrier’s future.
“We want to close the deal as early as possible because every politician I speak to in Rome, Berlin and also in Brussels now understands that ITA deserves a future,” Spohr says. “The Italian economy deserves to be connected in the future, and the Lufthansa co-operation is the answer to that question.”
Asked about the chances of Lufthansa getting the deal over the line, Spohr states: “I wouldn’t be working in aviation if I wasn’t optimistic.”
His comments were made in the week that might see Lufthansa discover what remedies would be required for the Commission to green-light the deal.
Lufthansa Group is seeking to acquire an initial 41% stake in the state-owned Alitalia successor carrier.
