ITA Airways to focus on Eastern Europe under Lufthansa ownership

Following the European Commission's approval of Lufthansa's acquisition of a 41% stake in ITA Airways, with an option of full ownership later, strategic plans have emerged to enhance the Italian carrier’s network, with a significant focus to be put on Eastern Europe. Markets in the former Yugoslavia, almost none of which are served by ITA, are expected to be included. Lufthansa aims to expand ITA Airways' network of Eastern European destinations in order to facilitate transfer traffic via Rome. This strategy is designed to primarily shuttle travellers from Eastern Europe to the United States, thereby expanding ITA’s market presence and improving connectivity within the Lufthansa Group's network. The Italian airline is set to join Star Alliance next year.

ITA Airways’ only destination in the former Yugoslavia is Split, which was served only in August this year for a total of just five flights. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, ITA’s predecessor, Alitalia, operated a year-round service from Rome to both Belgrade and Podgorica, as well as seasonal flights to Dubrovnik and Spit. In 2022, ITA announced launch plans for Belgrade, advertising the service on is website, but ultimately it didn’t follow through. Last year, the carrier applied for daily slots at Belgrade Airport from June, however, the flights also failed to materialise. Elsewhere, Alitalia maintained operations from Milan to Sarajevo, Zagreb and Skopje until 2007 and 2008, as well as between Rome and the Macedonian capital between 2014 and 2016. It had also announced its intention to launch operations from Fiumicino Airport to Zagreb, Sarajevo and Pristina, but these flights never came to fruition. 

ITA has a wide-ranging mutual codeshare agreement with Air Serbia. Its future is likely to be challenged under Lufthansa’s control. The Serbian carrier maintains flights to eight destinations in Italy, with a ninth service, to Sardinia, set to be introduced next year. ITA also has a codeshare partnership with Croatia Airlines, which has been growing in recent years. Under Lufthansa’s plans for ITA and its expansion in Eastern Europe, subsidiary Air Dolomiti will also be employed to shuttle passengers through Italy onwards to far away markets. In 2021, Air Dolomiti expressed interest in opening a base in Ljubljana, however, it is alleged the plan did not get approval from the Slovenian government due to the amount of financial assistance requested by the regional carrier.