The Lufthansa checkerboard: buys Ita Airways, but strengthens Air Dolomiti
The signs are all there: Ita-Lufthansa is a marriage in the making. Not least because the national airline does not [...]
Lufthansa
ITA Airways
Air Dolomiti
The signs are all there: Ita-Lufthansa is a marriage that is to be done. Not least because the national airline no longer has many alternatives left, and Ita needs to be inside a large Group and alliance that values the routes, services and investments made in this first year and a half of its life.
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It should only be a few days - the conditional is a must - before the government's go-ahead To LH's bid that will lead to the Germans taking over the 40% of Ita's shares, but there have already been many movements in recent months.
Movements that, however, on the one hand reflect an unambiguous strategy of marketing between Frankfurt and Rome; on the other hand, however, they also see Lufthansa acting on the subsidiary Air Dolomiti, an Italian airline but a 100% subsidiary of the German giant and specializing in "suspender" services between Italy, the two hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, and other destinations in Central and Eastern Europe.
Joint operations
Unions, Alitalia, intermodality: these three signals in the last few months have been unequivocal. The triple agreement signed in February tra Ita Airways, Lufthansa and Trenitalia - which laid the groundwork for a single air+train ticket agreement - produced Fco Connect, the check-in, baggage delivery and other services dedicated to those who precisely choose the single ticket with Trenitalia.
In this case, Fco Connect is the "child" of Trenitalia and Ita Airways, with Lufthansa possibly soon inheriting and expanding the agreement once it acquires the tricolor carrier's 40%.
Also in February, Ita reached an agreement with the unions. For the increase in salaries in a lightning operation that hasopted all the expected controversy and mobilization.
Again, Ita broke the tradition of "mother" Alitalia - which instead on the lack of agreements with the unions has built years of controversy, failures, rejection of business plans and internal clashes within the company-and has instead espoused the, German model, since Lufthansa itself is accustomed to dialogue and coming to terms with the unions.
On Alitalia, however, the January rumors. were confirmed a few days ago by Ita CEO Fabio Lazzerini.
The will of Lufthansa, but also that of Ita's current top management would be to dusting off the Alitalia brand in the near future, perhaps on the very long-haul routes that are the focus of the business plan the Germans have in store for the tricolor company.
The German routes of Ita
Meanwhile, in March 2023, Ita Airways participated in Itb Berlin (one of the world's most important tourism fairs) for the first time and took the opportunity to flaunt its network to Germany.
During the summer of 2023, in fact, Ita operates 114 weekly flights between Germany and Italy, thanks to connections from airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Hamburg with the hubs of Rome Fiumicino or Milan Linate. This was not Ita's first German sortie.
In January, in fact, the airline emphatically announced its membership in the Board of Airline Representatives in Germany (Barig), arguing that "Germany is a strategic market for Ita Airways and we are proud to be a member of Barig. From sustainability to fair competition, Barig brings forward key issues in aviation that are essential to our airline," Rodney Cali, country manager Germany for Ita Airways, had said.
Lufthansa invests in Air Dolomiti
Meanwhile, however, Lufthansa was playing on two tables by deciding to expand the presence of its subsidiary Air Dolomiti in Italy.
In February, Air Dolomiti was operating from major Italian airports to Germany with more than 550 weekly flights on the Lufthansa's hubs of Munich and Frankfurt.
But as of April 1, here's the news: Air Dolomiti opens two new bases in Italy: Florence and Venice, joining its home, Verona.
The opening of the bases implies the placement of aircraft and personnel at the two airports and a major growth in flights for the summer ( and beyond). Lufthansa, in fact, is reportedly diverting more and more LH-branded routes to Air Dolomiti From Munich and Frankfurt to various Italian airports (and vice versa).
A move aimed at rationalizing the network, as Air Dolomiti operates with smaller planes and lower costs. The German group's Italian airline has 19 aircraft: 17 Embraer 195 of 122 seats and two Embraer 190 108-seat aircraft just joined the fleet. And more aircraft should be on the way soon.
Ita and Air Dolomiti getting closer?
One of the hypotheses in the field for the future, therefore, is one that could see Lufthansa operate a rationalization of Italian connections to Germany, focusing on Ita Airways and Air Dolomiti as companies useful for feeding the hubs Frankfurt and Munich. The former with a focus on central and southern Italy, the latter dedicated to northern Italy.
Looking forward, then, to reviewing Alitalia brand flying on the long haul and especially on destinations in North and South America.
Moreover, also last month, Lufthansa explained extensively in an official document the reasons and objectives of its investment in Ita.
"Another airline, another hub: a good idea? Yes! Italy will benefit from having access to a strong airline with a good international route network if the synergies of the Lufthansa Group family are exploited," the paper suggested. "The Italian airline, which has undergone a major restructuring and operates from its hub in Rome, fits perfectly with the Lufthansa Group's route network. In fact, Italy is already the most important market for the Lufthansa Group after the four domestic basins and the United States."
"Skeptics fear it will be a complex investment. However, Lufthansa has already demonstrated-with the acquisitions of Swiss, Edelweiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti-how such transactions can be 'successful' for both parties," writes Lufthansa. "With the individual airlines' route network and five hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zurich and Brussels, the Lufthansa Group has built a domestic market throughout Central Europe and offers a wide range of international flights. The advantage: a high degree of flexibility in route control and less dependence on individual locations."
Lufthansa's vision for Ita is to give a central role to the Fiumicino hub to develop the network at long haul to the Americas and Africa. Many questions remain, however, about the roles that Lufthansa would like to attribute to Linate and Malpensa.
The former airport would bring added value and passengers to the German hubs; at Malpensa, on the other hand, there does not seem to be a definitive role for passenger transport, while it will be (and is already central even for LH itself) cargo operations. Finally, according to the German giant:
"Critical to the success of this multibrand strategy is that each of the brands is autonomous and has an independent profile. Each of the Group's airlines is led by a local management team, which targets customers in its target markets with its own carrier's identity and brand."
