easyJet (London Luton) is interested in taking over slots at Milan Linate that could be vacated as part of possible remedies enforced by the European Commission (EC) to approve Lufthansa’s acquisition of a 41% stake in ITA Airways.
First reported by Reuters, easyJet’s chief executive officer, Johan Lundgren, said it is no secret that the company would love to increase its presence at Milan Linate. The ch-aviation schedules module shows that easyJet Europe (EC, Vienna) operates 7.12% of all weekly seating capacity from the Milanese airport. It is also the third largest carrier at Linate, behind ITA Airways (52.29%) and AeroItalia (7.50%).
Lundgren added that to take over ITA Airways’ slots “would make absolute sense, so that is something that we are discussing with the Commission.” Additionally, Reuters reported that Lufthansa is also in talks with easyJet on the remedies.
ch-aviation has reached out to Lufthansa and ITA Airways for comment.
Lufthansa expects to receive all requisite permissions to acquire a 41% stake in ITA Airways by the end of the year. However, it also expects a formal statement of objections this month, following an in-depth probe launched in January. However, the German carrier has warned it may drop the merger proposal if the EC’s requests are “too excessive.”
The Commission is particularly worried that the deal could harm competition on short- and long-haul flights, particularly at Milan Linate but also at Rome Fiumicino, Munich, and Frankfurt International.
