LUFTHANSA 
The airport could become even more important as a hub for long-haul flights, said Marco Troncone, head of the operating company Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), in an interview with the news agency Reuters published on Wednesday. "We expect the quality of our traffic to improve further," he added. The potential as a hub has not yet been fully exploited. The airport, located on the coast southwest of Rome, could be expanded and offer new destinations in Central Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Lufthansa can initially acquire a 41 percent stake in ITA, but must fulfill conditions imposed by the EU Commission, including concessions to competitors at Rome Airport. Once these have been finally approved, ITA is expected to become the Lufthansa Group's fifth network airline at the turn of the year. The Alitalia successor is to be fully taken over by 2027. Rome Fiumicino is to become the Group's sixth hub for connecting long-haul flights to Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels. According to Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, the Aeroporto Leonardo da Vinci, as it is known in full, has the advantage that it can be expanded. This would enable the Group to operate more flights to Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East.
According to a study by the consulting firm TRA, ITA Airways had a market share of less than ten percent for intercontinental flights in Italy in 2023; this year it is expected to increase to ten to twelve percent - so there is still room for improvement. As part of the Lufthansa network, ITA will strengthen distribution, expects airport boss Troncone. This could attract even more passengers from outside Europe and mean more ground services for the airlines. Talks are already underway to expand ITA's lounge facilities at the airport, which is the largest in the country with over 40 million passengers a year.
(Report by Angelo Amante; written by Ilona Wissenbach. Edited by Philipp Krach. If you have any queries, please contact the editorial team at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)
