Lufthansa unlikely to offer more concessions in ITA bid, sources say

By Foo Yun Chee, Ilona Wissenbach and Giuseppe Fonte

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/ROME (Reuters) - Lufthansa is unlikely to offer more remedies to EU antitrust regulators scrutinising its bid for a stake in state-owned Italian carrier ITA despite their concerns about long-haul flights, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

German airline Lufthansa, which wants to buy 41% of Alitalia successor ITA and has so far submitted three offers of concessions, declined to comment.

The most recent proposal last month included an offer not to integrate ITA into its joint venture with United Airlines and Air Canada for two years, other sources had told Reuters.

There have been some tweaks to the proposal since then but no major changes, the sources said.

Lufthansa has also offered to keep some competing ITA short-haul routes to Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria and cede 40 slots at Milan Linate airport to easyJet and Volotea.

EU concerns had centred on the impact of the deal on both short-haul and long-haul flights and ITA's dominance at Milan-Linate airport.

The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition watchdog, is expected to decide whether to clear or block the deal by the end of the month.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by David Goodman)