The agreement, with which the German carrier will already this year take over two-fifths of Ita Airways’ capital, was signed in Rome on Thursday.

325 million euros – this is how much Lufthansa will invest this year in the recapitalization of the Italian carrier Ita Airways, which is less than two years old, thereby becoming its 41% owner.

The agreement, which the German aviation group concluded yesterday with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, envisages another investment of 450 million in two years, with which it would acquire a 90% share, while a tenth of the ownership will remain with the state. The agreement is now awaiting verification by the Italian Court of Auditors and the General Directorate for Competition at the European Commission.

The Germans predict that Ita Airways will end this year, when the state will continue to help the company with 250 million euros to cover losses, with 2.5 billion euros in income, and next year, incomes should exceed expenditures. By 2027, incomes are expected to increase to a good four billion per year.

Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti believes that with the deal they solved a decades-old knot. According to calculations by the Public Spending Observatory from Milan, the Italian state has invested more than 11 billion euros in the rescue of the national airline over the past 50 years.

Ita Airways currently has 71 aircraft and 4,300 employees. Compared to Alitalia, which went into final bankruptcy in 2021, this is a third smaller fleet and two thirds less staff. Nevertheless, Ita Airways is making a loss, comparable to more than a million euros per average day of Alitalia’s recent years. Last financial year, it closed 486 million euros in the red.