In the Italian press (the newspaper The messenger) rumors about a merger between Etihad Airways and Lufthansa. Sounds incredible, but how realistic is this rumor?
Does Etihad Airways merge with Lufthansa?
Il Messaggero newspaper does not present a credible source, and officials of the two big companies did not want to discuss the subject, mentioning that everything is just "speculation". But Lufthansa shares rose by 6% following rumors.
Speculations show 2 variants: Etihad will buy 40% from Lufthansa; Etihad and Lufthansa will merge completely and a new company will emerge. Whatever the solution, the impact on aviation in Europe will be significant. There are many steps to take until such a large transaction occurs, but we never say "never". Probably this pseudo-merger refers more to operational agreements and less to actual acquisition. We will follow the subject!
To be specific, let's not forget that Etihad and Lufthansa have signed an agreement for codeshare flights. This happened after Lufthansa rented 38 crewed aircraft from airberlin, the "Etihad" company.
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