Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr is heading to Rome to discuss taking a planned stake in ITA Airways, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti was quoted as saying by Ansa news agency today.
Lufthansa declined to comment.
Sources have said the German carrier is negotiating with Rome over the purchase of a 40% stake in the airline valued at around €200m, with the idea of buying the rest at a later stage.
ITA, the successor of Italy's loss-making flagship airline Alitalia, took to the air in 2021 and posted a loss of around €486m last year due to the lingering effects of the pandemic and rising fuel costs.
Lufthansa entered exclusivity talks to buy a significant stake in the company in January.
These were subsequently extended beyond an initial deadline of April 24.
The privatisation has proved an headache for the Treasury.
Rome has already injected €1.1 billion into the airline, and under an agreement with the European Union it was allowed to pay it a last tranche of €250m.
