Austrian Airlines has announced the start of a new phase of cooperation with Italian carrier Air Dolomiti, which will take over part of Austrian’s operations using Embraer E195 aircraft from the beginning of the 2025/26 winter season. According to AeroRoutes, Air Dolomiti will operate flights for Austrian under a wet-lease agreement on routes from Vienna to Belgrade, Bologna, Venice, and Milan Linate. The first services will commence on 26 October, with the Linate route starting on 19 January 2026.
This change comes as Austrian Airlines continues a major fleet modernization program and gradually phases out its own Embraer E195LR aircraft. By 2028, the entire fleet of 17 E195s will be replaced by new Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft, offering reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions. Although the Embraers will disappear from Austrian’s registry, they will remain part of its network – Air Dolomiti, also a Lufthansa Group member, will continue operating them on regular services from Vienna.
The move aligns with Lufthansa Group’s broader strategy to introduce centralized management of flight operations, finances, and network planning starting in 2026. Under the new model, capacity allocation decisions among group airlines will no longer be made independently but coordinated at group level. The goal is to improve efficiency and optimize fleet utilization across the Group’s main hubs in Vienna, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, and Brussels.
As Austrian Airlines CEO Annette Mann explained, the cooperation with Air Dolomiti allows the carrier to maintain capacity on regional routes while simplifying its operational model and reducing maintenance, crew training, and logistics costs. Passengers will still be able to fly on Embraers, but under Air Dolomiti’s flight numbers – while Austrian increasingly focuses on operating newer and larger Airbus aircraft and Boeing 787-9s on long-haul routes.
The upcoming season thus marks the beginning of a new chapter in Austrian’s restructuring, reaffirming Lufthansa Group’s flexible approach to capacity management within its integrated network of European hubs.
