The German carrier is to drop the Lufthansa Italia brand at the end of this summer, just two years after the offering was first launched.
Lufthansa says it is “reshaping its presence in the Italian market in order to focus on its strong position there”, and as a result “Lufthansa’s current alignment in Italy with its core brand Lufthansa, Lufthansa Italia and the regional airline Air Dolomiti will be streamlined”.
The Lufthansa Italia brand will be dropped at the end of the summer timetable on October 29, with the A319 aircraft currently operated by the brand “deployed elsewhere within the Lufthansa Group”.
The carrier says that while the Lufthansa Italia brand “filled a gap that had emerged in Milan following Alitalia’s withdrawal from Malpensa and the end of our cooperation with Air One”, competition and the fall in prices on European routes has meant the group has struggled to make the separate brand profitable.
Lufthansa says that its subsidiary Air Dolimiti will increase frequencies to Germany, and adds that it “foresees double-digit growth” in the group’s offering to Italy.
The Lufthansa Italia brand launched in 2009 (see online news April 6, 2009). For a review of the brand’s offering between Milan Malpensa and London Heathrow, click here.
Visit lufthansa.com.
Report by Mark Caswell