Convince the European Competition Commission to approve the marriage between the national carriers ITA Airways and Lufthansa. This is the objective of the meeting in Brussels scheduled for today, Friday 19 April 2024, between the managers and lawyers of the German airline and the antitrust technicians. It will be a discussion on the documents containing the remedies proposed by the two companies so as not to disturb the air transport market after the acquisition. 

Last week Lufthansa presented 200 pages containing corrective measures to address the concerns of the European Competition Commission, led by Margrethe Vestager, which is evaluating Lufthansa's 325 million dollars offer to acquire 41% of the capital of ITA. To avoid the creation of monopolies, the two airlines are willing to: cede a substantial number of airport slots at Milan-Linate; make sacrifices on intercontinental connections; but no remedy on intra-European flights. 

There is a risk that the European antitrust authority will return the proposal to the sender. The reason? The "remedies" would have changed little compared to the previous proposal, rejected by the antitrust. During today's summit, in the presence of other airlines and consumer associations, Lufthansa representatives will try to get their line passed. According to some industry experts, however, in the event of a negative opinion from Brussels, the Germans would be able to make further sacrifices to acquire ITA.

See for details AVIONEWS.