Lufthansa faces new lawsuit to block its acquisition of Italian airline ITA

The German airline group Lufthansa faces new legal challenges to its acquisition of Italian airline ITA after its competitor, German carrier Condor, filed a lawsuit with the General Court of the European Union, demanding that the European Commission’s approval of the deal be revoked.

Condor stated that the terms of the acquisition approval were insufficient to offset the negative impact on competition in the aviation market. This comes days after Luxembourg’s Luxair took a similar step.

In July 2024, the European Commission approved Lufthansa’s gradual acquisition of ITA (the successor to Alitalia). The German group initially acquired a 41% stake in the Italian airline in exchange for an investment of €325 million, with plans to eventually gain full control.

The terms of the approval included Lufthansa and ITA relinquishing some take-off and landing rights at Milan and Rome airports to British carrier EasyJet, points that have sparked objections from other competitors.