ANA and Lufthansa Group adds ITA Airways to Europe Japan Joint Venture

Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have announced the expansion of their Europe Japan Joint Venture with the addition of Italy-based ITA Airways.

Signed and announced during the IATA Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ITA Airways will be included in the joint venture by the Lufthansa Group by the autumn of this year.

According to both Lufthansa and ANA, the entry of ITA Airways into the joint venture will include the Italian airline’s Europe network covering domestic and the Maghreb, as well as its long-haul route between Rome Fiumicino and Tokyo-Haneda. It complements the existing scope of the joint venture in Italy with the current ANA-operated flights between Haneda and Milan-Malpensa.

Starting in the autumn, ANA and Lufthansa Group carrier customers (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and SWISS) can book travel on ITA Airways’ daily Haneda-Rome flights and combine it with their own flights. Travelers from Japan will have connecting options via Rome to destinations in Southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa. ITA Airways customers will get onward connections within Japan. Customers of both airlines will enjoy reciprocal lounge benefits at Rome and Tokyo.

In a statement, Juichi Hirasawa, President and CEO of All Nippon Airways, said: "As we approach the 15th anniversary of our joint venture next year, our long-standing partnership with Lufthansa Group has allowed us to offer our passengers a seamless and high-quality travel experience between Japan and Europe. With ITA Airways joining us to open up the gateway to Rome, we look forward to offering travelers exceptional service and even more convenient access to Italy, Southern Europe, the Mediterranean and beyond."

"We are very proud to join the Europe Japan Joint Venture together with ANA and Lufthansa Group,” said Joerg Eberhart, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of ITA Airways. “This agreement represents a key milestone in the international development of ITA Airways and further strengthens the airline's connectivity to the Asia-Pacific region, an area of major strategic importance. We thank our partners Lufthansa Group and ANA for this important opportunity, which will allow us to offer our customers more travel options, more efficient connections, and an increasingly integrated travel experience."

First founded in 2012, the Europe Japan Joint Venture between Lufthansa and ANA has expanded to include SWISS and Austrian Airlines. It offers customers a choice of 160 weekly flights between Europe and Japan.

After taking a 41% stake in ITA Airways in 2025, Lufthansa Group exercised its option to increase its stake in the airline to 90% in May. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2027. ITA Airways also officially became a Star Alliance member on April 1, 2026.