The Italian branch of Lufthansa Group, Verona-headquartered Air Dolomiti has chosen its next CEO ; Steffen Harbarth will become the chief executive of the airline from January 1st, 2022.
The German executive has been a member of Lufthansa CityLine’s executive board, having built his career in the airline group, occupying positions in several departments of the company.
He will replace Joerg Eberhart, who since 2014 has been Air Dolomiti’s President and CEO, as from October the 1st he will become Head of Strategy and Organizational Development of the Lufthansa Group.
«I’m proud that Lufthansa has put trust in my managerial and entrepeneurial capacities and this appointment will represent for me a stimulus to consolidate the national and international fame of Air Dolomiti», has stated Eberhart. «Air Dolomiti for me has meant much more than a simple step in my professional path: I’ve learned so much and have appreciated the enterprenurial spirit of a team of people full of will and capacity, ready to facy any market challenges. For this reason I’m pleased to stay in the Board of Air Dolomiti».
Between Eberhart’s leave and Harbarth’s take-over, Captain Alberto Casamatti will be Air Dolomiti’s CEO «ad interim», the airline says. He will keep the role of General Director of Operations and Accountable Manager, the non-executive President job being «temporarily» given to Ola Hansson, COO and Accountable Manager of Lufthansa.
In a press release, Ola Hansson stated «Italy is a strategicaly important market for the Lufthansa Group and further developement of Air Dolomiti is of central importance. Steffen Harbarth is the perfect choice for this new challenge, given his noticeable experience in the commercial management of airlines and as Managing Director responsible for operative processes and Accountable Manager in Lufthansa CityLine».
Air Dolomiti currently operates a fleet of fifteen Embraer 195s, according to Planespotters.net, and while it is headquartered in Verona and it does operate a small number of domestic frequencies, the airline’s focus is feeding Lufthansa’s network. In fact, most of the airline’s fleet has operated Lufthansa-coded flights in the past week, according to data gathered by Aviacionline with FlightRadar24.
Despite this German-ish focus of the Italian carrier, the airline looks ahead in expanding its horizons. In an interview to Corriere della Sera last year, Eberhart mentioned Air Dolomiti had plans of outgrowing Lufthansa’s hubs, especially from Florence, benefitting from the company’s local maintenance center.
In fact, this could include further fleet additions: ItaliaVola, an Italian website specialized in the local aviation market, reports that in an event to celebrate the new CEO appointment, Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr said «We at the Board are considering giving other aircraft to Air Dolomiti».
The website noted that the event counted with some Embraer guests and that «a scale model of an E195 E2 in Air Dolomiti colors was prepared by the Brazilian manufacturer. For Embraer, Martyn Holmes [the industry’s CCO] was present». And it finishes the note asking: «Will it be the [airline’s] next aircraft?».
