On Tuesday, the European Commission announced that it would open an in-depth investigation into Lufthansa's plan to acquire a stake in the former Italian airline Alitalia, despite the airline's share price gaining almost 2% on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

At the end of November last year, Lufthansa had announced its intention to invest in ITA Airways, the carrier born from the ashes of Alitalia, alongside the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.

In a press release, Brussels expressed its concern that the transaction would reduce competition in the market for passenger air transport services on several short-haul and long-haul routes to and from Italy.

According to the EU's executive arm, the merger could reduce competition on short-haul routes linking Italy to Central European countries, where Lufthansa and ITA are in direct competition with non-stop flights on which there is little competition.

The Commission explains that Lufthansa has submitted undertakings to remedy certain problems, but considers that these concessions are not sufficient to allay its concerns.

This announcement comes at a time when Lufthansa's debt rating has been upgraded by the three major rating agencies (Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch) to investment grade, a move that is unprecedented in the European airline sector.

As a result, the stock was posting gains of around 1.9% late Tuesday afternoon.

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