According to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Lufthansa Group is in negotiations with ITA Airways to take a stake of 15% to 40% of the capital of the new Italian airline.

ITA Airways began its operations on October 15th, replacing the loss-making Alitalia. Since then, it has shown potential to establish itself as the flagship company of Italy. It ordered 28 new Airbus aircraft, joined the Skyteam alliance and signed codeshare agreements with many carriers.

By acquiring ITA Airways, Lufthansa would prevent its main competitor, the Air France-KLM group and its partner Delta Air Lines, from dominating the Italian market through an alliance with ITA Airways in the same way they had with Alitalia within the SkyTeam alliance.