ROME (ITALPRESS) – ITA Airways’ first press conference of 2025 was held at Rome Fiumicino in the presence of the Italian airline’s top management, President Sandro Pappalardo and CEO Joerg Eberhart, with the participation of Carsten Spohr, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.The conference, attended by the national and international press, was an opportunity to celebrate the finalization of the transaction that saw ITA Airways’ official entry into the Lufthansa Group last January and to illustrate the first commercial innovations that will arise from the synergies between the Italian airline and the Group for the benefit of passengers.During the meeting, the new partnership between ITA Airways’ Volare loyalty program and the Lufthansa Group’s Miles&More was presented, which will grant the 2.7 million Volare members the opportunity to accumulate and use points on Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines flights and, at the same time, the 36 million Miles&More members the opportunity to accumulate and use points on ITA Airways flights.During the IATA 2025 season, which will begin on March 30, 2025, additional benefits are planned for passengers.Lounge access: ITA Airways passengers will be able to access the Lufthansa Group’s approximately 130 lounges and, for passengers of Lufthansa Group carriers, it will be possible to use ITA Airways lounges.Terminals at Frankfurt and Munich airports: ITA Airways will move its operations to Lufthansa Group terminals at the two German hubs, thus facilitating and speeding up passenger transfers while at other Lufthansa Group hubs ITA Airways already operates in the terminals where other Group carriers are located.Codesharing: codeshare agreements will be initiated between ITA Airways and Lufthansa Group carriers; this synergy will enable passengers to combine flights operated by multiple Group carriers, thus providing ITA Airways passengers with access to approximately 250 destinations while Lufthansa Group customers will be able to more easily reach destinations served by the ITA Airways network.Harmonized connections: flights between the Lufthansa Group’s hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels) and the two main airports on which ITA Airways operates (Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate) will see harmonized frequencies and schedules and better distribution throughout the day, thus offering passengers more choice and shorter connections between flights.During the conference it was also announced that ITA Airways has finalized its exit from the SkyTeam alliance. During the exit phase (exit phase), which will end on April 30, 2025, ITA Airways and SkyTeam are committed to a structured and efficient process, ensuring continuity of customer-facing services. ITA Airways will also continue to cooperate with some SkyTeam Alliance airlines through existing bilateral agreements, maintaining the benefits available to customers.In the coming weeks, ITA Airways will begin the process of joining the Star Alliance, the largest global alliance in aviation, scheduled for completion in early 2026.”I am delighted to participate today in ITA Airways’ first press conference as President,” said Sandro Pappalardo, President of ITA Airways. “This role is a great responsibility for me and already after a few days I understood even more the importance of this position and of the challenges we will face from here on, in an atmosphere of total and deep cooperation with the Lufthansa Group. I am sure that the airline will soon achieve its goals and guarantee Passengers and the country ever greater connectivity and enhancement all over the world. “Today we are announcing the first commercial innovations dedicated to our passengers, who will be able to start benefiting from the synergies with the Lufthansa Group,” said Joerg Eberhart, CEO of ITA Airways. We start today with the partnership between Volare and Miles and More, in the coming months we will continue with additional benefits such as access in lounges and codeshare flights, customers flying with ITA Airways from today will have access to exclusive benefits and an increasingly complete flight experience. We have also finalized another historic step for ITA Airways, we have exited the SkyTeam alliance and will soon begin the process of joining Star Alliance. But this is just the beginning, we will continue to work to seize further growth opportunities and offer our customers new benefits as early as the coming weeks.”
– ITA Airways press office photo –
(ITALPRESS).
