Lufthansa helps keep the European airline system in unstable equilibrium

Life is never dull in Lufthansa's executive suite these days. Now back in the frame as the preferred bidder for Alitalia, while a weekend change of government in Austria may redraw Austrian Airlines' privatisation plans, all make for another burst of adrenaline. But the airline's headlong rush to buy almost anything that moves is certain to ruffle some feathers - quite apart from raising questions about Cologne's ability to manage a growing raft of acquisitions and the inter-hub competition issues that they raise.