Michael O'Leary insists Ryanair will be the winner in Italy

CEO claims Lufthansa's plans to buy ITA will boost the airline

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary: Airline plans to add seven routes from Rome and 10 from Milan area hubs.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said the airline will emerge as a winner from rival Lufthansa's €325m investment in Italy’s ITA Airways, as more slots come up for grabs to secure regulatory approval.

“We support Lufthansa buying ITA,” Mr O’Leary said in an interview in Rome. 

"It will create more growth opportunities for Ryanair in Italy,” he claimed. 

Under the deal, the German airline would initially buy 41% of the successor to failed flagship Alitalia from the Italian state, with an option to acquire the rest at a later date. 

The Italian government plans to contribute an additional €250m. 

Italy has emerged as a significant market for Ryanair and other airlines which have injected significant sums into aircraft at several hub airports. 

Mr O’Leary made the comments ahead of a move by EU watchdogs to open an in-depth probe into the transaction. 

Paving the way for more slot concessions, regulators said a package of commitments offered so far by Lufthansa was “insufficient, in terms of both scope and effectiveness, to clearly dismiss” its competition concerns on long- and short-haul connections.

Aside from helping Ryanair, Mr O’Leary warned that if the deal goes through, the German carrier “will increase all the airfares” on the routes involved. 

“Rather than growing routes to and from Italy they will just use it to feed the hubs in Munich and Frankfurt,” he claimed. 

Italy has emerged as a significant market for Ryanair and other airlines which have injected significant sums into aircraft at several hub airports. Picture: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

The CEO said his company’s plan to add seven routes from Rome and 10 from Milan area hubs demonstrates a commitment to continue investing “strongly” in the country. 

The company expects traffic in Italy to grow least 10% this year to over 60m passengers, Mr O’Leary said. 

“We see a lot of inbound traffic that wants to come to Italy, tourism across Europe is recovering post-covid and Italy has been one of the biggest beneficiaries,” he said. 

It is not the first time that Ryanair has clashed with Lufthansa. The airline won an EU court fight over a €6bn recapitalisation approved by the European Commission. 

The EU in its ruling on Tuesday set a provisional deadline of June 6 to decide whether to block the Lufthansa deal or approve it with or without conditions. 

“We want to further assess the transaction and ensure that the acquisition of ITA does not reduce competition in short-haul and long-haul traffic and that it will not lead to higher prices, less capacity or lower quality for passenger air transport services in and out of Italy,” the EU’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. 

• Bloomberg