ITA Airways has entered the Lufthansa Group following Lufthansa investing in the carrier and taking a 41% stake, which is going to be heading up to 90% in 2026. Now the airline is making its first moves as a full member of the group. As it enters one of the joint ventures, the Lufthansa Group has standing. Specifically the Europe-Japan JV with ANA.
In this post:
- ITA Airways Enters The Europe Japan Joint Venture
- What Makes it a Win-Win For ITA and ANA
- Aiming For The Big One The A++ Joint Venture
- The Rush to Beat European Antitrust
- The Benefit For Lufthansa in Having ITA in the JV
- The Downsides For Passengers
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ITA Airways Enters The Europe Japan Joint Venture
ITA Airways is now starting to behave as a full Lufthansa Group member airline.
Until not that long ago, the aircraft, the airline behaved as a partial member, even due to its non-participation until April 1st in the Star Alliance and the miles and more frequent flyer program.
Additionally, since then Lufthansa announced that it will be increasing its stake in the airline to 90%, taking a majority stake in the Italian carrier’s equity.
That means that now it can fully call the shots on which are the strategic moves to be taken, such as entry and joint ventures.
The first joint venture ITA Airways is entering is the Europe Japan joint venture the Lufthansa group entertains with ANA.
It isn’t the holy grail of joint ventures (A++), but it is a significant move for the Italian carrier.
ITA Airways will now be integrating its operations heavily with Japanese Star Alliance member ANA. The two airlines will be working in unison to market and sell flights between Italy and the Far East.
What Makes it a Win-Win For ITA and ANA
This is a pretty sweet deal for both carriers, ITA and ANA. The way their network is structured between you, Italy, and Japan makes them a perfect fit and match for each other.
ITA Airways operates a daily flight from Rome Fiumicino to Tokyo Haneda International Airport (AZ792), while ANA operates a three times weekly service from Haneda to Milan Malpensa (NH207).
ITA Airways abandoned operations in Milan Malpensa in January of 2024, when it shut down its service to New York JFK. Since then, the Italian carrier hasn’t operated any flights out of Malpensa.
However, ANA does offer that three-time weekly service to Haneda, meaning that ITA Airways can market that flight and sell it on its channels as part of that joint venture.
The flip side of that is that ANA doesn’t serve Rome Fiumicino at all. Meaning that the Japanese carrier can market the ITA Airways flight on its own sale channels
Aiming For The Big One The A++ Joint Venture
The entry in the Europe-Japan joint venture can be seen as a test run for ITA Airways.
It’s no secret at all that the Lufthansa Group wants, as soon as possible, with the highest priority, ITA Airways into the massively lucrative A++ transatlantic joint venture.
That moment will be the real game-changer for the Lufthansa Group and ITA Airways. As it will be the moment when the Italian national carrier will fully integrate into Lufthansa Group transatlantic operations, vastly enhancing the capabilities and market share Star Alliance holds on flights from the U.S. to Europe.
The Rush to Beat European Antitrust
It feels like this announcement was a little bit rushed, however. The Japanese antitrust gave immunity for the launch of this joint venture, and so ANA and Lufthansa Group pounced on the opportunity to integrate ITA Airways into it.
The reason why it feels quite rushed is the lack of a real timeline for the deployment of the joint venture.
The parties state that it will roll out some time later in 2026, which does give off suspicious vibes. It does make you think a lot that they wanted to get to this agreement and announce it anytime before the European anti-trust authorities might take action and limit it in some way.
The Benefit For Lufthansa in Having ITA in the JV
The deal is good for ITA Airways, but it is just as good for Lufthansa. The German carrier will be able to channel lower yield leisure mediterranean traffic via Rome on this joint venture releasing high-yield seats in its northern hubs.
Therefore, the Lufthansa Group as a whole will be able to intercept more traffic while also selling higher-priced tickets in richer markets such as Germany and Switzerland.
The Downsides For Passengers
The deal comes with mutual recognition of lounge access for ANA and ITA Airways passengers and frequent flyers. That is good on one hand, but on the other, it puts additional pressure on already strained resources, particularly in Tokyo Haneda.
In peak hours, the ANA lounges in Tokyo Haneda are pretty crowded, and putting extra passengers in there is only going to make the situation worse.
With ITA Airways fully joining the joint venture, we get closer to a monopoly the Europe Japan JV has on many services and routes. What that boils down to is higher prices.