Ita Airways sponsors the Winter Games
New lounge for Ita Airways and Lufthansa at Milan Linate airport and designation as official airline for the next Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026. The new joint venture between the Italian and German carriers is running fast in anticipation of a possible recovery of the Alitalia brand, currently owned by Ita Airways. "We would like to take it back, but we still don't know when and how," said Ita Airways ceo Joerg Eberhart on the sidelines of the inauguration of the new 'runaway' lounge open from 15 May next. "It is a plan that is still to be defined and will be easier to realise when we have achieved a balanced budget." As for the possibility of Ita Airways reporting a profitable balance sheet in 2025, the ceo expressed himself as a possibility despite the fact that at the moment "it is a bit difficult to say. I always say 'a sustainable breakeven'.
When we see that all the parameters are stable and we see the first synergies with Lufthansa, we will also be able to think about recovering the Alitalia brand'. On Lufthansa's decision to accelerate the timetable for increasing its share in Ita Airways, Eberhart threw the ball into the German camp: 'It is a decision that belongs to Lufthansa. I think it could help because we would realise synergies faster, which we cannot achieve with the minority alone. It is more important to join the joint venture with United and Air Canada (in Star Alliance, ed.), which could be realised independently of Lufthansa's share in Ita'. Lufthansa completed the acquisition of 41% of Ita Airways on 17 January through a capital injection of 325 million. The German carrier can reach 90% of Ita Airways as early as 2025, 'by exercising this option by June this year and a second time by June next year. At the moment no decision has been made yet, but they are considering it,' the CEO explained. Work is also being done on the next business plan, on which the trade unions have been involved: 'We need a collaboration with them, we are aiming for that a lot,' said Eberhart, adding that 'at the end of May there will be a meeting with them precisely on the business plan'. The international tensions, which are also affecting the air transport sector, do not seem to affect Ita Airways at the moment: 'Flights to New York are going well, but we are cautious and ready to act if there is an impact on demand'. The CEO did not rule out that cost increases could have an impact on the price of air tickets: 'I think it is realistic to expect an increase. We have provided for some inflation in our plan, revenues have to increase to cover this additional cost, but we have not defined by how much'.
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