ITA Airways will be added to the Lufthansa Group and All Nippon Airways Europe-Japan joint venture from autumn 2026, extending the existing partnership between the two airline groups to include the Italian carrier. Lufthansa said the expansion will make Rome Fiumicino a new gateway for traffic between Europe and Japan.
The joint venture is being widened by Lufthansa Group and ANA rather than launched as a separate route initiative, with the aim of offering shorter and more convenient itineraries and broader network access across the Europe-Japan market. The official Lufthansa Group newsroom dated 8 June 2026 confirmed the planned expansion and named ITA Airways as the third partner.
The move follows ITA Airways’ deeper integration into Lufthansa Group and builds on the carriers’ already closer commercial cooperation. Lufthansa said the arrangement will add Rome to the network logic of the transcontinental partnership, giving passengers more routing options between Europe and Japan once the expanded venture takes effect.