The Lufthansa Group has begun its commercial integration with Italian carrier ITA Airways.
The move follows Lufthansa's finalized purchase of 41% of ITA last month for 325 million euros and ITA's formal entry into the Lufthansa Group, where it joined fellow network carriers Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels.
Members of Lufthansa's Miles & More loyalty program now can earn and redeem miles on ITA flights, while ITA Volare members can do the same on Lufthansa Group flights.
Changes with more impact on U.S. flyers will commence on March 30, when Lufthansa Group airlines begin codesharing on more than 100 flights with ITA. Lufthansa said that it will eventually increase the codeshare count to more 250 destinations, including ITA domestic flights to Sicily, Sardinia, Calabria and Puglia.
Codeshare bookings will become available in all Lufthansa Group global sales channels on Feb. 25.
March 30 will also mark the start of shared lounge access between ITA and other Lufthansa Group airlines as well as a move by ITA into Lufthansa terminals in Frankfurt and Munich.
ITA is also pointing toward entry into the Star Alliance sometime next year, aligning it with other Lufthansa Group carriers. The carrier is concurrently working toward exiting the SkyTeam alliance.