Deep Dive: Is ITA Airways Meeting Its Targets?

UPDATE – ITA Airways, the successor to the loss-making Alitalia since 2021 and partly owned by the Lufthansa Group, reported its first net profit

in its history in 2025 and its second year with positive EBIT. Yet there is work to do to bring ITA to sustainable, stable profitability levels. Where does the airline stand after 4.5 years, and what lies ahead?

Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) Airways was established in October 2020 and commenced services on October 15, 2021. Leaner and meaner, and without the heavy debts to which Alitalia had become accustomed over the previous decades (€5.530 billion since 2005…), ITA represented a new start to commercial aviation in Italy. The government still supported the airline with €1.35 billion in fresh capital to fund investments in new Airbus aircraft that were either leased or on direct order.

In 2022, two conglomerates of Certares/Delta Airlines/Air France-KLM on one side and shipping company MSC plus Lufthansa Group were vying for a minority stake in ITA. When MSC dropped out, Lufthansa went it alone and made an offer in May 2023 to acquire 41 percent of the company through a €325 million capital increase, with €250 million coming from the Italian state/Ministry of Economy and Finance. The offer included the option to acquire 49 percent in 2026 and a call option until 2033 for the remaining 10 percent, conditional on ITA meeting certain terms and milestones.