The CEO of the German aviation group Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr, today addressed a speech to shareholders, published on the eve of the Annual General Meeting to be held tomorrow in Munich. On the occasion, the manager also spoke of the negotiation with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (Mef) for the privatization of the national air carrier ITA Airways. 

"Our talks with the Italian Government on a participation and acquisition of the Italian airline ITA are well advanced. With this step we want to strengthen our presence in Europe and gain another very attractive domestic market for our Group. After the conclusion of a purchase agreement and approval by the European Commission, we see good prospects for the success of ITA" which "will make the Lufthansa Group even more international", said Spohr today. 

"Italy is the third largest economy in the European Union -he added- and also its third largest air market. Furthermore, the Milan metropolitan area is the third largest catchment area in Europe, behind London and Paris. The demand is high, both among business travelers and for private air travel to and from Italy. The country is already our largest foreign market after the United States". Functional to a strategy that looks at global competition: "Because too great a dependence on a single very restrictive regulatory framework or on a single labor market would make us fall behind at a global level".