LONDON  - Lufthansa executives sought to reassure investors about ITA's financial health on Friday after the German carrier won EU approval this week to buy 41% of the Italian airline.

It took the German airline group more than a year to win European Commission approval for its purchase of a stake in the Italian carrier, eventually agreeing to a number of concessions for which the details are still being ironed out.

As part of the deal, Lufthansa will give itself two years to assess ITA's financial health before pushing for a full takeover.

"We only need to execute if it is economically viable, even though you can hear my optimism and the optimism of the whole group that this will be the case," CEO Carsten Spohr told a conference call for investors and analysts.

Spohr said he expected ITA's business costs to improve further, given the efficiency of Rome's Fiumicino Airport, and that the airline's leasing debt was not a major concern.

On Thursday, Spohr told Italian media that Lufthansa could take a 90% stake in ITA as soon as next year.

ITA's predecessor, Alitalia, was bailed out by taxpayers repeatedly over decades and faced possible takeovers from numerous suitors, which did not materialise.

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska and Klaus Lauer; editing by David Goodman and Alexander Smith)