ITA is confident that the European Commission will greenlight the planned merger with German carrier Lufthansa by the end of the year, ITA Director General Andrea Benassi said on Tuesday. © ANSA
- ROME, OCT 31 - ITA is confident that the European Commission will greenlight the planned merger with German carrier Lufthansa by the end of the year, ITA Director General Andrea Benassi said on Tuesday.
"We are very optimistic and confident that by the end of the year the European Commission will give its judgement, and we believe it will be a positive one," he added. "The Commission is doing its job because this is one of the most important operations, if not the most important operation, that will take place in the aviation sector, so it is right for the European Commission to carry out all the checks and analysis," he concluded.
However, the deal still needs to be approved by EU competition and antitrust authorities, a step that can only be taken once they have received official notification of the deal from the contracting parties.