Air Dolomiti Embraer E190 Business Class for Lufthansa: Zurich – Frankfurt

Not every Lufthansa flight is flown by Lufthansa. Between Zurich and Frankfurt, the hub-to-hub hop that connects two of the Lufthansa Group’s busiest airports, the aircraft at the gate may well belong to Air Dolomiti, the group’s Italian regional airline based near Verona. In April 2026 I booked Lufthansa Business Class on this route and found an Embraer E190 in Air Dolomiti’s teal livery waiting for me. This Air Dolomiti E190 Business Class review asks whether a regional operator can deliver the same premium experience as the mainline airlines of the group, or whether passengers should lower their expectations when they see the Italian logo on the tail. If you are comparing options, our flight reviews cover the other Lufthansa Group airlines on similar routes.

Air Dolomiti in Brief

Air Dolomiti is no newcomer. The airline started flying on 21 January 1991, Lufthansa became a partner in 1994 and has been its sole shareholder since 2003. Its home is Dossobuono di Villafranca, next to Verona airport, but much of its flying happens for Lufthansa out of Munich and Frankfurt. The fleet consists entirely of Embraer regional jets, 19 E195 and 9 of the smaller E190 that I flew on this route, and in 2009 Air Dolomiti became the first airline in Italy to operate the E195. The airline describes its mission as combining “Italian identity, reliability and the strength of the Lufthansa Group”. On this flight, the first part of that promise was the most visible, from the welcome at the seat to the plate on the tray.

Great-circle distance between the airports.

The SWISS Business Lounge in Terminal A

Business Class on a Lufthansa flight from Zurich comes with access to the SWISS lounges, and I used the SWISS Business Lounge in Terminal A. It was a good start. I took a seat at the long counter by the window, where every place has its own power panel with Swiss, European, British and American sockets plus USB ports, which is exactly what a working traveller wants before a short flight.

The buffet offered a sensible mix for an afternoon departure. I began with a crusty bread roll, two slices of cheese and a spoonful of hummus, with a cola on the side, and went back for a pasta salad with peas, green beans, cherry tomatoes, shaved Parmesan and flaked almonds. Fresh, well seasoned and nicely presented, it was the kind of lounge food that you are happy to eat rather than merely tolerate. The lounge earns four and a half points.

Boarding and Seat

Boarding was by jet bridge. Through the gate window I could see the slender nose of the Embraer, with Air Dolomiti’s stylised teal logo just below the cockpit, while an Austrian Airlines Airbus waited at the next stand: two airlines of the same group side by side.

The E190 is a regional jet with a two-by-two layout, so there is no middle seat to block in Business Class and every passenger has either a window or an aisle. That alone makes the E-Jet one of the more pleasant aircraft on short European routes. As usual on European short-haul flights, Business Class is defined less by the seat than by its position at the front and by the service, and on a flight of little more than an hour that is entirely sufficient. Four points.

What struck me first, however, was not the seat but the cabin around it. It was exceptionally clean, down to the tray table and the headrest covers in Air Dolomiti teal. A cabin in this condition tells you that somebody cares, long before the first drink is poured.

A Welcome at the Seat

The real surprise was waiting on the tray table before departure. Air Dolomiti had laid out a small welcome at my seat: a bottle of San Benedetto mineral water from Italy, a boxed Sicilian Pastry from Carollo Gourmet, a Waterdrop Microdrink cube in peach ice tea flavour, and a refreshing towel in Air Dolomiti packaging.

None of these items is expensive on its own. Together, they make a statement that I have rarely seen on a European regional flight: we expected you, and we thought about what you might enjoy. The Italian origin of almost everything on the tray table gives the welcome a sense of place. You may be flying from Switzerland to Germany, but for an hour you are a guest of an Italian airline, and it shows.

Catering

Once airborne, the Business Class meal arrived. It came in a cardboard box branded with the Air Dolomiti logo and was served on a plate on a tray lined with an Air Dolomiti paper mat, with a napkin and cutlery.

The dish was a small savoury cheesecake: a smooth cream layer on a crumbly golden base, topped with a spoonful of pesto, flakes of dried tomato and chopped pistachio, and framed by lines of dark balsamic glaze and a scattering of dried oregano. It was a thoughtful, distinctly Italian composition for a short flight, a long way from the sandwich in cling film that some airlines still hand out at the front of the aircraft.

Then came the Sicilian Pastry from the welcome box, served alongside a glass of water. Inside the blue and white box was a pastry crusted in chopped pistachios, with a glossy candied cherry in the centre: sweet, rich and very Sicilian, and a fine end to the meal.

For a flight of this length, the catering was generous, carefully presented and full of character. Four and a half points.

Crew and Entertainment

The crew matched the welcome. They were friendly and attentive throughout, and what I noticed most was how much love they put into the service. Nothing about it felt like routine. On this showing, Air Dolomiti can easily keep up with the service on Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines in European Business Class. Four points.

There are no seatback screens on this E190, which is the norm on regional jets, so bring your own entertainment. On a clear day like this one, the window was entertainment enough. Shortly after take-off from Zurich, the view opened up over the Zurich Oberland, with Greifensee and Pfäffikersee below, Lake Zurich beyond and the snow-covered Alps along the horizon. Three and a half points for entertainment.

Arrival in Frankfurt

The flight to Frankfurt is short, and it passed quickly. This is how it ended, filmed from my window seat.

On the apron in Frankfurt, an Air Dolomiti Embraer in the airline’s white and teal livery, with “Lufthansa Group” lettered below the cockpit, stood in the spring sunshine.

I left the aircraft with the feeling that I had flown with an airline that takes pride in its product, rather than with a regional subcontractor filling a slot in someone else’s schedule.

My answer to the question I started with is clear: there is no reason to lower your expectations when Air Dolomiti operates your Lufthansa flight. Quite the opposite. With its Italian welcome at the seat, its spotless cabin and a crew that served with real warmth, Air Dolomiti delivered one of the most charming short-haul Business Class experiences I have had in the Lufthansa Group.

About the author

Roger Hohl

Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.