Air Dolomiti
Encyclopedia
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
with its head office in Dossobuono
Dossobuono
Dossobuono is a town in the Veneto, in northeast Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Villafranca di Verona, in the province of Verona. It has a population of around 6000....
, Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.-History:The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is a partner of Lufthansa Regional
Lufthansa Regional
Lufthansa Regional is the regional airline alliance of the largest German airline, Lufthansa. It transports 10.5 million passengers a year, serving over 80 destinations and over 150 routes...
linking 13 Italian destinations to the Lufthansa
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
secondary hub Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, as well as operating a few other flights in Italy and Germany. Its main base is at Munich Airport.
Air Dolomiti operates from 17 airports of which 14 are in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The others are Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Of the 15 routes currently operated 12 are to and from Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. These account for the majority of the airline’s capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
.
The airline's name derives from the section of the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
known as The Dolomites
Dolomites
The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. It is a part of Southern Limestone Alps and extends from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley...
.
History
Air Dolomiti was established in January 1989 by the Leali Steel Group. It started regional operations in January 1991 with a TriesteTrieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
-Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
route and in 1992 started international services with flights from Verona to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. After several years of co-operation, Lufthansa acquired a 26% stake in January 1999 and increased it to 52% in April 2003 and 100% in July 2003. Since then Air Dolomiti has been controlled by Lufthansa
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
as a member of Lufthansa Regional, a strategic cooperation between five regional European airlines (Air Dolomiti, Augsburg Airways
Augsburg Airways
Augsburg Airways GmbH is a regional airline based in Hallbergmoos, Germany. It is part of the Lufthansa Regional group and operates domestic and international services on behalf of Lufthansa out of Munich International Airport.- History :...
, Contact Air
Contact Air
Contact Air Flugdienst is a regional airline headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, operating scheduled services as part of Lufthansa Regional out of Stuttgart Airport, and on behalf of Swiss International Airlines out of Zürich Airport.- History :The airline was established by Gunther Eheim as a...
, Eurowings
Eurowings
Eurowings Luftverkehrs AG, part of Lufthansa Regional, is an airline with its head office in the Düsseldorf Administrative Center in Düsseldorf, Germany...
and Lufthansa CityLine
Lufthansa CityLine
Lufthansa CityLine GmbH is a regional airline based in Cologne, Germany. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and member of the Lufthansa Regional network. It is the largest regional airline in Europe. Its main base is Cologne Bonn Airport, with hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport...
).
The airline employs some 552 people (at March 2007) and although most Lufthansa
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
regional subsidiaries operate under their parent's name and colours, Air Dolomiti retains its own identity.
At one time the airline's registered office was in Dossobuono
Dossobuono
Dossobuono is a town in the Veneto, in northeast Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Villafranca di Verona, in the province of Verona. It has a population of around 6000....
, Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.-History:The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins....
, while the airline's executive headquarters were in Ronchi dei Legionari
Ronchi dei Legionari
Ronchi dei Legionari is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 30 km northwest of Trieste and about 14 km southwest of Gorizia....
.
Lufthansa
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
, stated on the 26th of January 2011 that the CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Air Dolomiti, Michael Kraus, would be estabilished as CEO of Lufthansa Italia
Lufthansa Italia
Lufthansa Italia S.p.A was a wholly owned subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa based in the Centro Leoni complex in Morivione, Zone 5, Milan, Italy...
as of 28 March 2011, putting him at the head of Lufthansa's entire Italy division.
Fleet
Italian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers,...
s as a tribute to the city of Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
and its famous ancient theatre, the "Arena di Verona". As of May 2011, the fleet consists of following aircraft:
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72 ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner built by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. ATR and Airbus are both built in Toulouse, and share resources and technology... |
|||
| Embraer E-195 Embraer E-Jets The Embraer E-Jets are a series of narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range, jet airliners produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and corporate aircraft. Announced at the Paris Air Show in 1999, and entering production in 2002, the aircraft series... |
|||
| Total | 16 | 0 |
In May 2011, Air Dolomiti's average fleet age was 7.4 years.
Accidents and incidents
- On November 7, 1999 Air Dolomiti Flight 2708, a Fokker 100, wet-leased from Alpi EaglesAlpi EaglesAlpi Eagles SpA was an airline headquartered in Sant'Angelo di Piove di Sacco, Italy. The privately owned regional airline operated scheduled passenger services linking 15 domestic destinations, as well as international services to Albania, Czech Republic, France, Romania, Russia, Spain and Ukraine...
(registration I-ALPL, c/n 11250), flying from Venice Marco Polo Airport, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, with 44 on board suffered maingear failure while approaching Barcelona International AirportBarcelona International AirportBarcelona El Prat Airport , simply known as Barcelona Airport, is located southwest of the center of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, lying in the municipalities of El Prat de Llobregat, Viladecans and Sant Boi.The airport is the second largest in Spain behind Madrid Barajas Airport and the...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
- it landed safely on a foam carpet. - On August 24, 2008, an Air Dolomiti ATR 72ATR 72The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner built by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. ATR and Airbus are both built in Toulouse, and share resources and technology...
(registration I-ADLM, c/n 543), operating flight LH3990 from MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, to BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, abandoned take off after the pilot announced a smoke alarm. The airline treated the plane's evacuation as a mild incident. But on August 26, an amateur video, filmed by a bystander, was circulating to great interest on television and the Internet. The footage shows tense moments of some 60 passengers jumping from and fleeing the burning plane before fire department workers extinguish the flames. - On October 3 2011 the crew of an Air Dolomiti ATR 72-500 noted a problem with the left hand engine prompting them to shut it down. The crew decided to return to Florence Airport for a safe landing about 10 minutes after departure. The ANSV (Italian Flight Safety Agency) declared to open an investigation in order to clear the cause of the incident.