Lufthansa has said it is interested in acquiring a stake in Austrian Airlines. Austrian state holding company OeIAG has invited bidders for its 43-percent stake in the carrier, worth about $223 million.

It’s a small deal, but it’s a big deal.

If Austrian’s board picks Lufthansa, the German carrier will own nearly half of Austria’s main carrier. And that could spur more consolidation — or partnerships at the very least — among other airlines, analysts said.

Lufthansa, affectionately known as Lufthie, is on a spree. In December, the airline bought a 19-percent stake in JetBlue Airways for about $300 million.

Under U.S. law, no foreign airline can own more than 25 percent of a U.S. airline.  By limiting its stake to 19 percent, Lufthansa remains below federal limits on foreign ownership of a domestic airline.

But the passive investment includes a representative on JetBlue’s board and opens up an opportunity for Lufthansa to make a bigger deal down the road.

Also, the “open skies” agreement is sure to increase competition among carriers — in Europe and in the United States. 

As airlines like Lufthansa take stakes in more airlines, and other carriers hold merger talks (British Airways and Iberia are in merger discussions while the two also entered a partnership with American Airlines earlier this month), airlines not in the middle of any talks could find themsleves left out in the cold.