Lufthansa , Germany's flag airline, launched Lufthansa Italia in 2008 as a bold bid to enter the Italian domestic market. It was a strategic attempt to make up the gap created by Italy's struggling flag airline, Alitalia , and provide better services for Italian travelers. However, by 2011, Lufthansa Italia had ceased operations , bringing an end to the airline's brief but dramatic history.
What went wrong? Why did Lufthansa Italia fail to take off, despite its promise and funding from one of Europe's aviation giants? Founded November 27, 2008 Started operations February 2, 2009 Ceased operations October 29, 2011 Base Milan Malpensa (MXP) Fleet Airbus 319-100 x 9 Status Out of business The rise of Lufthansa Italia Lufthansa Italia was founded at a difficult moment in Italy 's aviation industry. Alitalia, Italy's national airline, was on the edge of bankruptcy , and Lufthansa spotted a chance. With Alitalia failing to maintain reliability and service quality, there was a market opportunity for a reputable foreign airline to step in and provide the services that Italian travelers needed.
Italy is an interesting and complex aviation market where many different players have found some opportunities to thrive. Lufthansa chose to create a subsidiary that could meet both the domestic and international needs of the Italian market and decided that Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) would be the base for Lufthansa Italia. The head of Lufthansa Italia, Heike Birlenbach, said that the company .
