Italian carrier ITA Airways, now part of the Lufthansa Group, has been cleared to join Star Alliance in 2026 after a vote by airline executives.
ITA Airways Cleared For Entry Into Star Alliance In 2026
The Star Alliance Chief Executive Board (CEB) met this week to consider whether to support the ascent of ITA Airways to Star Alliance. The motion was made by Lufthansa, which acquired a 41% stake in the Italian flag carrier formerly known as Alitalia, with the Italian government retaining a 59% stake.
ITA Airways will add 360 daily flights to the Alliance network and add extensive connectivity at its two hubs in Rome (FCO) and Milan (MXP), which are collectively served by 16 Star Alliance members.
Star Alliance CEO Theo Panagiotoulias stated:
“In early 2026, ITA Airways is expected to officially join the Star Alliance network as a full member. The decision by our Chief Executive Board underscores the strong confidence our members have in ITA Airways. As a gateway for Italy, its addition strengthens our global network, offering seamless and connected journeys to more travelers worldwide.”
That’s pure puffery and I have to wonder how enthusiastic United Airlines was, for example, to make it even easier for another carrier to compete against its bread-and-butter market of Italy. Over time, ITA is expected to join the A++ transatlantic joint venture with Lufthansa, United Airlines, and Air Canada and thus will become “metal neutral.”
Why such a delay? I’d imagine it is because ITA has one of the worst websites of any major airline and it will take months to improve that and make sure backend systems, like redemption platforms or the flight crediting system, will work well with other Star Alliance members.
As a customer, I am thrilled to see ITA join Star Alliance (even as I am sadder to see the loss of SAS, which left Star Alliance for SkyTeam in 2024). Joerg Eberhart, CEO of ITA Airways, said:
“We are excited to join the Star Alliance network and to bring the excellence of Made in Italy into the alliance, further enhancing its global reach. This is a significant milestone in ITA Airways’ growth, and we look forward to offering our customers the future privileges of the world’s largest airline network.”
I like his “Made in Italy” statement. The Italian carrier is known for its excellent service and food onboard and its new A330-900neo and A350-900 longhaul aircraft and A321 mid-haul aircraft have excellent premium cabin seats as well.
While ITA’s predecessor was a perennial basket case in terms of economic performance, it’s the prodigal son of Italy that is always forgiven, so I’m not worried about the survivability of the carrier.
CONCLUSION
ITA Airways, now a member of the Lufthansa Group will join Star Alliance in 2026 after leaving SkyTeam on February 3, 2025 (with the full exit phase expected to be completed by April 30, 2025).
Once it completes its new carrier integration (NCI), the Star Alliance network will grow to 26 member airlines, offering over 18,000 daily flights connecting 192 countries.
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UA won’t have a problem with the additional connectivity and expansion of the JV arrangements. TAP also won’t be worried about an extra couple of *A rotations to GRU. However, I would’ve expected the likes of Aegean, Egyptair, and Ethiopian Airlines to be far less enthusiastic about it all.
The real shame in this taking so long is that our BS ITA Volare status matches won’t ever get us Star Gold.
Ha! Yes, I was thinking about that too!
I’m actually pretty surprised that no SkyTeam carrier seems to have any interest in doing a Volare status match. If anyone from Air Europa is reading this, get it done and I’m going to give you a bit of free money next year by doing a crazy segment run between PMI and the mainland to maintain Suma Gold!
To my knowledge ITA flies LIN these days, not MXP… I’ve actually been wondering if this will change with the amount of Star Alliance flights from MXP.
This is a very good thing IMO. Can’t wait to go to Italy again. Thanks for letting us know.