More planes and new routes: Lufthansa invests in Air Dolomiti (ITA pending)

Already a year ago we had outlined the Air Dolomiti's growth path, in antithesis to the long and unfinished negotiations between Lufthansa and the MEF for the acquisition of Ita Airways.

In 2024, therefore, the scenario continues to evolve, and while Ita remains mired in the ford Of the demands of the European antitrust, Lufthansa invests heavily in its Italian subsidiary, one of the few Italian airlines left in the market (along with just Ita, Neos, and Aeroitalia).

The Lufthansa checkerboard: buys Ita Airways, but strengthens Air Dolomiti

More planes and new routes

The airline led by the ceo Steffen Harbarth, in fact, carried 3 million passengers last year and is set to grow the fleet-currently has 20 aircraft-with the entry of a new aircraft in the coming weeks and more 4-5 by the end of 2024.

The planes (and sound money) come from the parent company (aircraft specifically will be turned over by Lufthansa City Line and Lufthansa Regional) but the new dimension of Air Dolomiti will also see the launch of some very interesting routes for its business model.

Review Air Dolomiti flight from Malpensa to Munich

Air Dolomiti is a regional airline that operates from Transmission belt for LH flights on Frankfurt and Munich hubs From medium/small cities in Europe.

In late 2023, however, Air Dolomiti announced the start of flights from London City to Frankfurt: a first step that includes in 2024 two more innovations: the Geneva-Frankfurt and the Florence-Zurich. Three routes that bring Air Dolomiti into a broader landscape with first-class airports.

The Florence-Zurich route is also operated until now by another pillar of the LH Group, Swiss Air.

What will change as Ita joins Lufthansa

The chief executive officer Steffen Harbarth, however, clarified that everything will take place "without changing our business model, which aims to bring travelers to the hubs," while on the Ita-Airways-Lufthansa case and possible route splits "it is only after the European Union's okay that we will be able to address the issue." Including the possibility of feeding flights Ita Airways intercontinental flights.

"Our function is to connect Italy with Germany and soon with Switzerland," the ceo added in a recent interview with Corriere della Sera. "With the additional planes we will be able to increase frequencies and launch more routes to Florence, where we have a maintenance center.

But for Air Dolomiti, the type of traveler is also slowly changing with a steady increase in leisure; while business dropped by 15%.

A signal that could lead the 100%-owned Italian airline of Lufthansa to also modify the fleet in the future (larger aircraft than Embraer) and compete with Ita on certain routes.

Lufthansa-Ita Airways marriage, German strategy for takeoff in early 2024

In the meantime, while waiting for the long-awaited green light from the European Union, Air Dolomiti is staying away from Rome Fiumicino and staking everything on its bases in central and northern Italy: Verona and Venice on all of them, and then Pisa and Florence. One step at a time, LH's first Italian home is gaining an increasingly important share of the market.

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