In January, Lufthansa Group closed the transaction to acquire a 41% stake in ITA Airways, with the ability to purchase further stake over the years. With this move, Lufthansa Group now owns the Swiss, Belgian, Austrian and Italian carriers, apart from LCC Eurowings.
ITA Airways will move out of SkyTeam and join Star Alliance
The consequence of ITA Airways’s being bought out is that it will leave the SkyTeam alliance almost immediately. The exit process will be completed by April 30, 2025, and after that date, it will no longer be possible to earn or redeem miles with most SkyTeam carriers for travel on ITA Airways.
Next, ITA Airways will join the Star Alliance, the alliance to which the other major Lufthansa Group carriers belong. However, this process will only be in 2026, so this is not a back-to-back exit and arrival like it happened with SAS, who exited Star Alliance and entered SkyTeam.
Miles & More and Volare will collaborate here on.
Lufthansa and ITA Airways will immediately see a loyalty collaboration take off. 36 million Miles & More members can earn and redeem miles on ITA Airways flights. Similarly, 2.7 million ITA Airways Volare members can earn and redeem points on Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, and Brussels flights.
Lufthansa Group and ITA Airways will collaborate more closely in Summer 2025
As of March 30, 2025, when the global airline schedules turn to the summer schedule, we will see closer cooperation between Lufthansa Group and ITA Airways. ITA Airways will relocate to Terminal 1 at Frankfurt (FRA) and Terminal 2 at Munich (MUC) to be closer to Lufthansa and simplify transfers. At other Lufthansa Group hubs, flights already depart from the same terminals. Additionally, reciprocal lounge access will be offered, whereby eligible ITA Airways passengers can use Lufthansa lounges, and eligible Lufthansa passengers can use ITA Airways lounges.
Unfortunately, this will mean that many ITA Airways members will be without an alliance membership for a while, based purely on the current information shared with us.
Bottomline
Lufthansa has acquired a controlling stake in ITA Airways, which means that ITA Airways will leave the SkyTeam alliance by April 30, 2025, and intend to join the Star Alliance in 2026. However, Lufthansa Miles & More and ITA Airways Volare will introduce frequent flyer reciprocity immediately. As of March 2025, we’ll see further integration among the Lufthansa Group carriers, including the launch of codeshare agreements, co-location in terminals, and more.
What do you think of the timeline of ITA Airways transitioning?
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I have flights in May, that were booked before this announcement, and I assigned my Flying Blue number to the PNR. Will I get credit for those flights?