Italian officials pushed hard for the EU to clear the deal. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini last month said a potential veto would be a “hostile act” against the country. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last year that the European Commission was dragging its feet when it had “asked us for years to find a solution” to the national airline’s financial troubles.

The companies will give up lucrative takeoff and landing slots at Milan Linate airport to allow a rival to develop routes from there to central Europe. They will also divest assets to allow one or two rivals to run flights between Rome or Milan and other central European airports.

On highly profitable transatlantic routes the companies will help rivals via cooperation deals or slot swaps to increase improve connections on routes to North America.

The Commission will assess potential rivals who plan to take up these offers and will have to approve them separately before the Lufthansa deal can be completed.

Lufthansa is buying a 41 percent stake in ITA via a €325 million capital increase with the option of purchasing the rest from the Italian government at a later date.

The Italian government had been keen to find a buyer for ITA Airways, which started in 2020 as the country’s state-owned carrier after the collapse of Alitalia and following months of negotiations with the EU on a rescue plan. A series of Italian bailouts and other financial aid for Alitalia over several decades had made it a near-constant point of friction with EU competition enforcers.

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