Regional carrier Air Dolomiti is targeting its expansion plans on the development of its Italian regional route network and a 20% increase in capacity on the back of a fleet-renewal strategy. Michael Kraus, chairman and chief executive of the Lufthansa Group subsidiary, says the objective throughout 2005 has been to increase capacity by 20%, building on 2004 load factors of 62.2% with the phased introduction of five 100-seat BAe 146-300s into its fleet from May to meet growing demand, gradually replacing its five 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s.
Kraus says Air Dolomiti saw the need to adapt to the low-cost challenge in early 2004 when it changed its business model from traditional regional carrier to a feeder system. “The airline is today a benchmark for feeder carriers and we are more than ever a reference model for Lufthansa through our dynamic activity at Lufthansa’s Terminal 2 hub in Munich, which has made us the number one international carrier in terms of weekly frequencies,” he says.
Kraus believes Italy has become the next target for foreign low-cost attacks at a time when its national carrier system is undergoing a major restructuring. “On the other hand, the traditional [International Air Transport Association] member traffic shows a lot less market dynamism than the new business models, so I think that we will have quite an interesting time ahead of us in Italy,” he says.
Source: Flight International
