The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it has approved Lufthansa’s plans to take over part of Italy’s state-owned airline ITA Airways.
The European Union’s top competition watchdog has raised concerns that customers would face higher prices and lower quality air services to and from Italy due to limited competition.
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement that regulators were satisfied “that there is still sufficient competitive pressure” on Italian aviation after solutions were found.
To please EU regulators, Lufthansa and the Italian government agreed to facilitate the operation of short-haul flights by competing airlines to Central Europe and share landing rights at Milan airport to reduce Lufthansa’s potential dominance.
