It was inevitable we would have some sort of news regarding ITA Airway’s future concerning airline alliance affiliation and some other key aspects of its daily operations. Lufthansa, following the closing of the 41% stake takeover of the Italian flag carrier, has started working on aligning its newest controlled airline to its operations. Here’s what’s going on and what will change.
ITA Airways – Leaving SkyTeam After 3 Short Years and Joining Star Alliance
It was only a matter of time, as I’ve said more than once here on flightsmilesandpoints.com, before ITA Airways’ exit from SkyTeam and eventual move to Star Alliance would be announced.
A key stepping stone to achieve perfect integration and synergies between ITA Airways and the Lufthansa family of airlines. By entering Star Alliance, ITA will strengthen its ties not only with the other Lufthansa controlled airlines but also with other global partners, such as: Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, and Turkish Airlines.
As for passengers, this translates to a more conveniente and streamlined travel experience with the Lufthansa and Star Alliance partners under a single booking (as was with SkyTeam airlines until now). While awaiting the alliance transition, the Italian flag carrier and Lufthansa Group will independently setup a codeshare agreement which will go into effect by the end of February.
ITA Airway’s will officially join Star Alliance in 2026. It wasn’t possibile to do it any sooner. Contracts and transition times just didn’t allow to do so. This one year transition phase, however, will come very useful to frequent flyers that might need to realign their position to remain in SkyTeam.
If we look at it from another point of view, ITA Airways will be making the inverse journey Scandinavian SAS took a few months ago when moving from Star Alliance to SkyTeam.
ITA A Step Closer to Joining the Miles&More Loyalty Program
While there’s no official statement on this, I get the idea that ITA Airways is inching closer to entering Lufthansa Group shared Miles&More loyalty program. Starting immediately Volare frequent flyers will accrue miles even on Lufthansa Group airline operated flights. Likewise Miles&More members will earn miles on ITA Airways operated services. However, I get the feeling that this is just a first step and there will be more significant ones to follow.
Yet another piece in the puzzle that falls into place which will have ITA perfectly aligned with its new investor. My personal opinion, nothing official on this yet, is that this is just a transitory phase which will have ITA Airways’ Volare disappear and the airline enter as a full member in Lufthansa’s Miles&More program.
Volare has just recently, in late 2024, been extended in validity for only one more year until the end of 2025. As I see it, this will be the last year of its existence. I really see no practical reason for Lufthansa to have a separate frequent flyer program for ITA, or have a different standard from all other airlines and make the Italian carrier some sort of a standalone entity in this regard. Having a separate frequent flyer program would also create certain disparities in treatment not only between airlines but also between passengers flying on ITA and other Lufthansa airlines.
Therefore, I believe no more than a few months from now, no later than summer 2025, Volare’s short-lived history will come to an end and ITA will enter Miles&More starting January 2026.
Airport Lounge Access – How It’s All Going to Change in 2025
Well you must have seen this one coming from what I covered until now in this post. As ITA aligns with the Lufthansa Group in both airline alliance and (probably) loyalty program, it must also do so in terms of airport passenger facilities, in other words airport lounges.
Starting March 30th 2025 Lufthansa Group lounges will open to eligible ITA Airways’ Volare program frequent flyers. Likewise, the much fewer ITA Airways’ airport lounges in Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate will welcome Miles&More eligible status holders.
ITA Airways’ Relocates its Operations in Lufthansa Munich and Frankfurt Hubs
Lufthansa and ITA will also be getting closer to each other logistically in two key hubs: Munich and Frankfurt. ITA Airways will be relocating its operations at these Lufthansa gateways to offer expeditious and convenient transits from and to Lufthansa flights.
All ITA Airways flights will depart from Lufthansa-centric terminal, specifically:
- In Munich, flights will relocate to Terminal 2
- In Frankfurt, they will relocate to Terminal 1
Nothing will change for flights arriving and departing ITA hubs in Italy. Lufthansa and ITA Airways already operate from the same gate areas in Milan Linate and Rome Fiumicino.
Along with the relocation to its new home in Frankfurt and Munich, ITA Airways will start refocusing some of its flights towards Lufthansa Group strategic hubs (Zurich, Brussels, Vienna, Frankfurt, and Munich). Flight schedules will be revised to spread services more evenly through the day and harmonized with long haul flights operated by other fellow group airlines.
Comments from Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr
All this was presented at a press conference in Rome in the presence of Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, who commented:
“Now that ITA Airways has become a member of our airline family a few days ago, we want to push ahead with the merger quickly, so that ITA and its passengers, as well as the guests of our other passenger airlines, can quickly benefit from the advantages of an expanded Lufthansa Group. We are also confident that ITA Airways will realize a profit as early as this year. All in all, we are convinced that today, the start of the integration of ITA Airways into the Lufthansa Group, marks the beginning of a joint success story for customers, employees and shareholders of ITA Airways and the Lufthansa Group.”