Alitalia’s successor is attracting the interest of the major European conglomerates: in addition to Lufthansa’s intention to acquire part of the company, IAG is also seeking to set foot in the competitive and not inconsiderable Italian market.
According to reports by Il Messagero, in recent months there have been informal contacts with the president of ITA, Alfredo Altavilla. IAG sees the possibility of entering the competition for Italy’s domestic market, which is dominated by foreign low-cost airlines.
IAG has something to get involved with: Vueling and BA Euroflyer could be some of the brands with which it would disembark on the peninsula, beyond the know-how of the LCC model that the group has learned very well. Although there is no official confirmation of the group’s interest, an investment in the airline would make a lot of sense for both parties.
ITA is clear that it has no margin or funds to become a player of local, intra-European, or intercontinental relevance. The long-haul routes it announced are ad hoc and seek to meet pent-up demand after these nearly two years of pandemics. Whether the routes are profitable or merely sustainable in the medium to long term is an uncertainty that ITA will not be able to afford.
ITA desperately needs a partner, and the candidates know it: acquiring a presence in the Italian market at a desperate price is an advantage few will want to pass up. The National Air Transport Federation said it expects the choice of ITA’s commercial-industrial partner «to materialize within the first half of 2022 in order to consolidate the development of the industrial plan, confirm the planned hires and give a more solid perspective to the future of the national carrier.»
The Federation recognizes that for the time being, «there are still inefficiencies in the network that can only be solved through synergies with a solid partner of adequate size.» Therefore, neither Lufthansa nor IAG will be left out of the competition to become that partner that will bring ITA to a scale that will allow it to survive, and thus cut the cycle of its predecessors. If it can.
