ITA Airways is Leaving SkyTeam, Moving to Star Alliance in 2026

ITA Airways, the Italian flag carrier formerly known as Alitalia, has announced plans to leave the SkyTeam alliance and move to Star Alliance. This news comes months after Lufthansa Group, parent company of multiple Star Alliance carriers including Lufthansa and SWISS, took a 41% stake in ITA Airways.

While this announcement doesn’t come as much of a surprise, the timing here is interesting. ITA Airways is taking a “hurry up and wait” approach with this move as the carrier expects to exit the SkyTeam alliance over the next few months. However, in the press release, Lufthansa Group notes that the carrier does not expect to join Star Alliance until the first half of 2026.

ITA Airways and Lufthansa Group Developing Closer Partnership as part of Star Alliance Move

Passengers will immediately begin to see closer cooperation between ITA Airways and Lufthansa Group member airlines as Miles & More (Lufthansa Group’s frequent flyer program) members and Volare (ITA Airways’ frequent flyer program) members can earn and redeem miles across ITA Airways, Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.

As of March 30, 2025, which is the beginning of the carriers’ summer schedules, passengers can expect the following changes:

• ITA Airways will move terminals in Frankfurt and Munich to co-locate with other Lufthansa Group airlines (the airlines are already co-located at all other hubs).
• ITA Airways passengers will gain access to approximately 130 lounges of Lufthansa Group and its partners. ITA Airways lounges will also be open to Lufthansa Group passengers.
• Codesharing will occur on more than 100 flight connections (these are expected to go on sale February 25, 2025). This number is expected to grow significantly over time.

Also, while no official timeline has been given, flight connections between the Lufthansa Group’s hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels) and ITA Airways’ two main airports (Rome and Milan) will be optimized for better connections between carriers.

The CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr, had this to say about the increased partnership with ITA Airways:

“Now that ITA Airways has become a member of our airline family a few days ago, we want to push ahead with the merger quickly, so that ITA and its passengers, as well as the guests of our other passenger airlines, can quickly benefit from the advantages of an expanded Lufthansa Group. We are also confident that ITA Airways will realize a profit as early as this year. All in all, we are convinced that today, the start of the integration of ITA Airways into the Lufthansa Group, marks the beginning of a joint success story for customers, employees and shareholders of ITA Airways and the Lufthansa Group.”

The most notable aspect of the tie-up between Lufthansa Group and ITA Airways is the latter’s addition to Star Alliance. Though ITA Airways was a part of SkyTeam, it didn’t cooperate closely with many of the carriers in that alliance. Though it seems odd for an airline to go a year without being part of an alliance, there likely won’t be many impacts for travelers.

As someone who holds top tier status with ITA Airways, selfishly I want them to join Star Alliance faster so I can access United Clubs when flying domestically. That’ll have to wait for the time being it seems.

Summary

After purchasing a 41% stake in ITA Airways, Lufthansa Group is developing a closer partnership with the Italian flag carrier. This includes coordination of schedules, reciprocal lounge access, and the ability to earn and redeem miles across multiple carriers. ITA Airways will also leave SkyTeam and join Star Alliance as part of the changes.