ITA Airways, thanks to Lufthansa slots, ready to return to London Heathrow
After a hiatus of more than a year, ITA Airways is preparing to return to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). It has [...]
ITA Airways
LHR
After a hiatus of more than a year, ITA Airways prepares to return to London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
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This was anticipated by CEO Joerg Eberhart in an interview with Airways Magazine: returning to the course Rome Fiumicino - London Heathrow it will be possible thanks to slots made available by the Lufthansa Group.
What are airport slots
The slot are time windows that allow airlines to Land or take off at a specific airport at a specific time.
In large congested hubs such as Heathrow, JFK or Amsterdam, each slot is extremely valuable because track capacity is limited and demand is so high.
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In practice, owning slots means having the right to operate flights to and from that airport in strategic time slots-a commercial resource of enormous value, so much so that they are often traded or sold between companies for multimillion-dollar sums. Alitalia had its own, but in Etihad's ill-fated phase it had given them to the Abu Dhabi company And they had never gone back.
Lufthansa's role at Heathrow
Lufthansa is now the third largest operator by number of slots at London Heathrow, with about 290 slots allocated, according to the most recent analysis of Simple Flying.
The German company serves its hubs of Frankfurt (FRA) e Munich (MUC), but when considering the whole Lufthansa Group - which also includes SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings - presence is even more significant: about 47 departures per day from Heathrow, only British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have more movements at this airport.
Here it operates from Terminal 2 where also has an immense lounge, recently renovated. ITA passengers, however, will be able to stretch out and visit the other beautiful Star Alliance lounges as well of this terminal such as Singapore Airlines' Silverkris, United's, and Air Canada's Maple Leaf lounge.
ITA Airways: the comeback after the 2024 suspension
ITA Airways had suspended flights over London Heathrow to March 2024, concentrating British connections on London City (LCY) e London Gatwick (LGW), more accessible airports but with less business traffic than Heathrow.
The return to LHR represents a strategic step: not only to strengthen the corporate segment and intercontinental connections, but also as a first concrete sign of operational integration with the Lufthansa Group outside German borders.
A symbolic and strategic return
Heathrow has always been considered one of the most prestigious and competitive airports in Europe.
For ITA Airways, flying back to LHR means. To re-enter the "A series" of European traffic, gaining access to a network of global connections jointly operated with the Lufthansa Group. A move that consolidates cooperation and paves the way for broader business integration, ahead of ITA's final entry into the Transatlantic joint venture between Lufthansa, United Airlines and Air Canada.
