SINGAPORE, 5 February 2025: Integration of ITA Airways into the Lufthansa Group kicks off this week with details emerging on operational changes, including ITA’s decision to leave SkyTeam to join Star Alliance.
Change of airline alliance: The Italian airline will gain admission to Star Alliance, the biggest global aviation alliance. Preparations have already begun. ITA Airways’ official accession to the Star Alliance is planned for the first half of 2026. ITA Airways has already initiated the withdrawal from the SkyTeam alliance.
In a press conference in Rome earlier this week, Deutsche Lufthansa AG CEO Carsten Spohr, ITA Airways Chairman Sandro Pappalardo and ITA Airways CEO Joerg Eberhart presented the first steps and improvements for customers.
It starts with frequent flyer programmes, flight operations at airport terminals being moved, lounge access, code sharing, and coordinated European flight schedules that get underway following ITA Airways joining the Lufthansa Group.
More FFP members
With immediate effect, 36 million Miles & More members can earn and redeem miles on all ITA Airways flights. At the same time, the 2.7 million members of the ITA Airways frequent flyer programme Volare can earn and redeem their points on all flights operated by Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
With the start of the summer flight schedule on 30 March 2025, passengers of ITA Airways and Lufthansa Group can enjoy the following benefits:
Under one roof in Frankfurt and Munich: ITA Airways will move into the Lufthansa Airlines terminals in Frankfurt and Munich – into Terminal 1 in Frankfurt and Terminal 2 in Munich. This will significantly reduce passengers’ transfer times at all other hubs of the group, as well as in Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Linate, the Lufthansa Group airlines already offer their flights in the same terminal areas as ITA Airways.
Lounge access: Starting 30 March, ITA Airways passengers will also be able to use around 130 lounges of the Lufthansa Group and its partners on their travels. The lounges of ITA Airways will also be open to Lufthansa Group passengers starting at the end of March.
Code sharing: With the start of the summer flight schedule, more than 100 flight connections will initially share their flight numbers. These codeshares make it possible to combine flights of different airlines in the group into a single booking. Once fully implemented, this codesharing will give ITA Airways passengers access to over 250 destinations of the Lufthansa Group. For passengers of the Lufthansa Group airlines, the offer will be expanded to include ITA Airways domestic flights to Sicily, Sardinia, Calabria and Puglia. All codeshare connections can be booked from 25 February through all global sales channels, including online and via the Lufthansa Group and ITA Airways apps.
Coordinated flight schedules between the hubs: Flight connections between the Lufthansa Group’s hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels) and ITA Airways’ two main airports (Rome and Milan) are optimised and better distributed throughout the day to offer guests more travel flexibility. Coordinated departure times mean less waiting time for guests and better connections to long-haul destinations.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG CEO Carsten Spohr commented: “Now that ITA Airways has become a member of our airline family a few days ago, we want to push ahead with the merger quickly, so that ITA and its passengers, as well as the guests of our other passenger airlines, can quickly benefit from the advantages of an expanded Lufthansa Group. We are also confident that ITA Airways will realise a profit as early as this year. We are convinced that the integration of ITA Airways into the Lufthansa Group marks the beginning of a joint success story for customers, employees and shareholders of ITA Airways and the Lufthansa Group.”
