Germany's Lufthansa will start making money from its investment in ITA Airways from this year, the chief executive of the German carrier, Carsten Spohr, said on Monday.

Lufthansa Group remains a minority shareholder in Italy’s national carrier, but it’s already leveraging the benefits of its 41% stake.

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.

There is scope for further consolidation in the European airline sector, the chief executive of Germany's Lufthansa said on Monday, having just bought a 41% stake in Italy's state-owned ITA. "We have too many airlines in Europe.