Air Dolomiti S.p.A. L.A.R.E (''Linee Aeree Regionali Europee'') is an Italian regional airline, wholly-owned by

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

. It is a member of Lufthansa Regional and has its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona. Its main bases are at Munich Airport and

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport ( ) , is Germany's busiest international airport by passenger numbers, located in Frankfurt, Germany's fifth-largest city. Its official name according to the German Aeronautical Information Publication is Frankfurt Main Airpor ...

in Germany.airdolomiti.eu - Our flight destinations
retrieved 29 March 2020 Air Dolomiti operates routes from several Italian destinations to and from Munich and Frankfurt. Most of these services are sold under the Air Dolomiti brand and codeshare with Lufthansa, while a few remain under the Lufthansa brand.

History

Foundation

Air Dolomiti was established on 30 December 1989 by the ''Linee Aeree Europee (L.A.E)''. The airline's name derives from the section of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

known as the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

. It started airline operations in January 1991 with a

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

route. In 1992, the airline started international services with flights from

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

.Air Dolomiti: Universally Europe ''

Airliner World ''Airliner World'' is an aviation magazine published by Key Publishing in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. In the United States, the magazine is distributed from the Key Publishing office in Avenel, New Jersey. The first edition of ''Airliner Wo ...

'' February 2020 pages 31-37

Takeover by Lufthansa

After several years of co-operation,

acquired a 26% stake in January 1999 and increased it to 52% in April 2003 and 100% in July 2003. Although most Lufthansa Regional subsidiaries operate under their parent's name and colours, Air Dolomiti retains its own identity. The airline employed some 748 people in June 2020. At one time the airline's registered office was in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, while the airline's executive headquarters were in

Ronchi dei Legionari Ronchi dei Legionari ( Bisiacco: ; , , ) is a (municipality) in the regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northeast Italy, about southwest of Gorizia and northwest of Trieste. It is the location of Trieste – ...

. In September 2018, Lufthansa announced it would expand Air Dolomiti's fleet significantly by 12 pre-owned Embraer 190 and 195 aircraft to be transferred from sister company

Lufthansa CityLine Lufthansa CityLine Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH is a German regional airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Munich Airport. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and maintains hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich ...

. However in late 2021, Lufthansa stated that the transfer was no longer confirmed and may be continued later or on a smaller scale if at all. Later on, two Embraer 195 were transferred from

by spring 2022. In late 2022, Lufthansa confirmed it would transfer further aircraft from Lufthansa CityLine to Air Dolomiti to strengthen the group's presence in Italy after its bid to take over ITA Airways fell apart. In March 2024, Lufthansa announced plans to expand Air Dolomiti's fleet to 25 aircraft within the year, as the subsidiary is scheduled to take over more routes within the Lufthansa Group network.

Destinations

, Air Dolomiti operates routes from

and Munich Airport to 26 destinations in Italy, as well as to other European countries on behalf of its corporate parent,

Codeshare agreements

Air Dolomiti has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: *

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

Air China Air China, officially Air China Limited, ( zh, s=中国国际航空公司, labels=no, ''Zhōngguó guójì hángkōng gōngsī'') is a major Chinese airline and the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China. It is headquartered in Shunyi ...

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a Japanese airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. ANA operates services to both domestic and international destinations and is Japan's largest airline, ahead of its main rival flag carrier Japan Airlines. the airline has approximate ...

* ITA Airways *

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

Sponsorship

Over the years, Air Dolomiti has established various partnerships and sponsorships. Its Settimocielo onboard service collaborated with renowned chefs such as Simone Rugiati (2015) and Giancarlo Perbellini (2016), as well as with JRE Jeunes Restaurateurs (2017). The airline also partnered with prominent wineries, including Aneri, Marchesi Antinori, and Masi, which was named Air Dolomiti’s "Wine of the Year" for 2018.

Fleet

Current fleet

, Air Dolomiti operates the following aircraft:airfleets.net - Air Dolomiti Fleet
retrieved 29 December 2024 Several of Air Dolomiti's aircraft were named after

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was 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 ope ...

s, as a tribute to the city of

and its ancient theatre, the

Arena di Verona The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, an iconic symbol of the Venetian city alongside the figures of Romeo and Juliet. It stands as one of the grand structures that defined Roman architecture and i ...

. The remaining christening names are removed during the repaint into the new livery.

Former fleet

In the past, Air Dolomiti previously operated the following types of aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

*7 November 1999: Air Dolomiti Flight 2708, a Fokker 100, wet-leased from Alpi Eagles (registration I-ALPL, c/n 11250), flying from

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with 44 on board suffered landing gear failure while on the runway at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It came to rest safely on a grassy area near the runway. *24 August 2008: An Air Dolomiti

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

(registration I-ADLM, c/n 543), operating flight LH3990 from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, abandoned take off due to smoke alarm. The airline treated the evacuation of the aircraft as a minor incident, but on August 26 an amateur video, filmed by a bystander, circulated on television and the Internet. The footage shows tense moments of some 60 passengers jumping from and fleeing the burning plane before the fire department extinguishes the flames. *17 May 2012: An Air Dolomiti ATR 72-500 operating on flight EN-1912/LH-1912 from

returned to Munich after the right engine shut down and smoke was discovered in both cockpit and cabin. Shortly after touchdown the plane deviated from the southern runway and came to a standstill about 80 metres (262 feet) into the grass covered side strip. The nose gear was reported to have collapsed in the process. Of the 58 passengers and four crew members aboard, five passengers were reported to have received minor injuries.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Airlines established in 1991 Airlines of Italy Companies based in Veneto Italian companies established in 1991 Lufthansa