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Germany's Lufthansa Group on Friday finalised its acquisition of Italian airline ITA Airways, closing a long period of uncertainty for Italy's former flagship carrier. Under the 325-million-euro (USD 350 million) deal, Lufthansa takes an initial 41 per cent stake in ITA, formerly Alitalia, from the Italian government, gaining full control by 2033 with a total investment of 829 million euros. The remaining 59 per cent will initially continue to be held by the Italian Treasury. This deal was originally announced in May 2023 and was approved by the European Commission following a year-long investigation and with conditions to protect competition. The commission noted that Lufthansa, ITA and its partners, for example, control most routes from Rome and Milan to North America. Under the deal, the merged company must make it possible for rival airlines to launch non-stop flights between Rome or Milan and central European airports, where competition is limited; make room for rivals on ...
Lufthansa has struggled with competition on its transatlantic and Asian routes, recently cancelling its Frankfurt to Beijing flights as Chinese carriers increased capacity
Indian citizens generally need a Schengen transit visa if their flight has a layover in a Schengen country
A Gujarat consumer court ruled in favour of a passenger who alleged that the German airline failed to inform him about Schengen visa rules, causing him 'mental agony'
The show cause notices, sent over the last three days, pertain to unpaid taxes on services imported by Indian branches from their respective head offices
Lufthansa shares are down around 25 per cent over the last six months as it continues to struggle to recover its balance sheet
Equity analysts said Lufthansa's decision was not surprising, given its cost challenges linked to strikes earlier this year and delivery delays from plane manufacturers
While the deal expands Lufthansa's footprint in the lucrative southern European market, the combined group will have to cede some routes and slots to rivals for it to proceed
ITA also offers key long-haul routes to Lufthansa, which has an option to take full ownership if the Italian airline's financial performance improves
A Lufthansa wide-body A380 aircraft from Munich experienced fire in one of the wheels during landing at the Delhi airport on Monday night, according to sources. The aircraft, which operated flight LH 762, landed safely at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). Since the plane had to undergo checks and spare parts were not immediately available, the return flight to Munich was cancelled, they added. Sources said there were around 490 passengers on board the aircraft, which made a controlled landing at the airport. "While LH762 landed safely in Delhi, a short term technical deregistration of the aircraft was required due to the lack of availability of spare parts after a controlled landing. Safety is our top priority at Lufthansa," an airline spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. The sources said the fire was noticed in one of the wheels during landing. Further, the sources said that due to the incident, the return flight LH 763 was cancelled after boarding passes we
India is a big aviation market and a stronger partnership between Air India and Lufthansa is good, as efforts of the Star Alliance are to bring the partners together to provide a unique value proposition for the passengers, the airline grouping's CEO Theo Panagiotoulias has said. Air India and Lufthansa are part of the Star Alliance, whose 26 member airlines come together at more than 50 global hubs to offer smooth connections across a global network. A management company, based in Frankfurt and Singapore, coordinates Star Alliance projects and activities. It includes airport co-location, digital infrastructure, frequent flyer integration and joint business lounge projects to improve the travel experience. Talking to PTI on the sidelines of IATA annual general meeting in Dubai this week, Panagiotoulias was bullish about the prospects in the Indian market that offers "so much of opportunities". "The alliance is to bring the partners together to provide a unique value proposition...
Passengers flying with Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Munich can now seamlessly connect to Sydney and Melbourne via Delhi and Mumbai airports using Air India flights
Air France-KLM said it would tighten spending for the rest of the year, including a freeze on hiring support staff and a vow to stabilise operations, particularly at carrier KLM
The airline confirmed its forecast of full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 2.2 billion euros ($2.3 billion)
Guillaume Loriot, the European Commission's deputy director general for mergers, and lawyers as well as officials from national competition agencies will also be there
"The removal of ITA as an independent airline may have negative effects on competition in these already concentrated markets," the Commission said in a statement
Europe's airlines have benefited from unprecedented demand following the pandemic, allowing them to hike prices, but higher labour and maintenance costs have limited earnings growth
A labour union in Germany has called on ground staff for Lufthansa to walk off the job at seven airports on Tuesday following a similar strike earlier this month. The Ver.di union said Sunday that the one-day strike will affect the airports in Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa's two main hubs, as well as Berlin, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart. It will run from 4 am Tuesday to 7:10 am Wednesday. A 27-hour strike at five of the same airports that started February 7 prompted the airline to cancel hundreds of flights. The union is seeking pay raises of 12.5 per cent, or at least 500 euros (USD 539) more per month, in negotiations for about 25,000 employees, including check-in, aircraft handling, maintenance and freight staff. Several-hour or one-day warning strikes are a common tactic in German contract negotiations. A round of talks on February 12 produced no agreement. More negotiations are scheduled for Wednesday.
Ground staff for Lufthansa walked off the job at five major German airports on Wednesday, causing the airline to cancel hundreds of flights. The Ver.di union called on ground staff at Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa's two main hubs, as well as Berlin, Duesseldorf and Hamburg, to strike for 27 hours starting at 4 am Wednesday. Lufthansa said ahead of the strike that it expected to be able to operate around 10-20 per cent of all planned flights. It said tickets could be re-booked free of charge, and tickets for German domestic flights could be converted to rail vouchers. In Frankfurt, the company canceled 80-90 per cent of the planned 600 departures and arrivals by Lufthansa itself and subsidiary Air Dolomiti ahead of the strike, German news agency dpa reported. More than 400 departures and arrivals at Munich Airport also were canceled. All Lufthansa departures from Berlin and Hamburg were canceled, as were most domestic flights from Duesseldorf. Lufthansa anticipated that, in all, m
Lufthansa wants to acquire a 41% stake in ITA for 325 million euros ($353.2 million) as part of a capital increase