There is scope for more consolidation in Europe's airline sector, the chief executive of Germany's Lufthansa said on Monday, having just bought a 41% stake in Italy's state-owned ITA Airways. Lufthansa paid E325m for the ITA deal and last week agreed to buy a 10% stake in Latvian airline airBaltic. It is also exploring the possibility of acquiring a minority stake in Spanish carrier Air Europa. "We have too many airlines in Europe," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in the first press conference with ITA representatives since the tie-up with the successor airline to bankrupt Alitalia was finalised three weeks ago. "We believe strongly in the potential of ITA Airways, we believe in the strength of Italy, of its economy, of its people," Spohr said at Rome's Fiumicino airport, adding Lufthansa was aiming to make ITA profitable from this year. Lufthansa is moving to expand its European presence and gain access to more planes to relieve its supply constraints, as it prepares to boost its presence in the southern European market. When Lufthansa last year agreed its purchase of a minority stake in ITA with the Italian government, it said it was looking to acquire full control at a later date. For now, Italy's Economy Minister remains in control of 59% of the airline. Spohr said there were no plans to up the stake in ITA to as much as 90% in 2025, and added the airline was expected to join Lufthansa's Star Alliance by early 2026, as its loyalty programme gets integrated with the German carrier's. Newly-appointed ITA CEO Joerg Eberhart said the Italian carrier would grow in 2026 with new hirings and a focus on long-haul routes, aiming to capture a larger share of the traffic at Fiumicino airport, its main hub.<br/>
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Italian carrier ITA Airways is to leave the SkyTeam alliance in favour of rival Star Alliance, as it begins integration with strategic partner Lufthansa Group. ITA Airways says it expects to complete the process of joining Star by early 2026. Lufthansa Group has taken a minority stake in the airline, which had previously been wholly-owned by the Italian government. ITA emerged in 2020 as the government sought to establish a successor to troubled flag-carrier Alitalia. It had initially agreed in 2021 to maintain Alitalia’s allegiance to SkyTeam. Alitalia had sided with the alliance two decades earlier. But following the tie-up with Lufthansa Group, ITA Airways is defecting, marking another significant European alliance shift after Star member SAS switched to SkyTeam in September last year. ITA CE Joerg Eberhart confirmed the change had been “finalised” as he unveiled an initial set of commercial initiatives under the Lufthansa deal. The exit phase from SkyTeam will end on 30 April. “[We] will soon begin the process of joining Star Alliance,” says Eberhart. He states that the new initiatives include codesharing, harmonised connections, relocation of ITA operations to Lufthansa terminals in Germany, and a partnership between the carriers’ loyalty programmes. “But this is just the beginning,” he adds. “We will continue to work to seize further growth opportunities and offer our customers new benefits in the coming weeks.”<br/>
Air India and Kenya Airways have entered a codeshare partnership, boosting travel between India and Africa. As part of the codeshare agreement, Air India will place its ‘AI’ designator code on twice daily flights between Nairobi and Mumbai operated by Kenya Airways, which will seamlessly connect passengers via Mumbai on Air India-operated flights to or from Bangkok (Thailand), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Malé (The Maldives), Melbourne (Australia), and Singapore. These are in addition to existing connections that passengers from Nairobi can take to several other destinations within and outside of India via Delhi, when flying Nairobi to Delhi with Air India. “Deepening our partnership with Kenya Airways aligns perfectly with Air India’s strategic vision of expanding our global footprint and strengthening our position in key markets”, said Nipun Aggarwal, CCO, Air India. “Our codeshare partnership will provide significant benefit to guests of both airlines, and also contribute to the overall growth of air travel between India and Africa.”<br/>
All Nippon Airways (ANA) expects to take delivery of its new Boeing aircraft later than initially forecast, as it works to “enable further capacity growth” in the near-term. The disclosure, made 3 February, is the first time the airline has publicly confirmed delivery delays amid production issues at Boeing. ANA’s Boeing orderbook includes 20 737 Max 8s,18 777-9s and a pair of 777-8 freighters. All Nippon Airways (ANA) expects to take delivery of its new Boeing aircraft later than initially forecast, as it works to “enable further capacity growth” in the near-term. The disclosure, made 3 February, is the first time the airline has publicly confirmed delivery delays amid production issues at Boeing. ANA’s Boeing orderbook includes 20 737 Max 8s,18 777-9s and a pair of 777-8 freighters. ANA had on several occasions in the past indicated it would be taking the new aircraft in the 2025 financial year, even as Boeing was hit by a string of production woes in the past year. The Star Alliance operator has also been impacted by a double-whammy of engine issues - the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G powering its Airbus A320neo narrowbody family, as well as the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s on its 787s. ANA says with the PW1100G engines, it expects the situation to improve in the 2025 financial year, with 11 aircraft will be grounded for inspections, an improvement from the current 13. <br/>