Hi, dear flight-report members and readers!
In this short FR I'd like to present a review of an Air Dolomiti Embraer E195 on a short hop across the Alpes from Munich (MUC) to Milan Malpensa (MXP), taken on 28 November 2017.
Intro
This flight, operated by Air Dolomiti, was the final leg of the Lufthansa ticket MXP-FRA-MEX-MUC-MXP (with the transatlantic legs FRA-MEX on B747-8i and MEX-MUC on A340-600 already reviewed). From MXP I flew to SVO via AMS, and the AMS-SVO flight on a rare B739 has been already reviewed.
Air Dolomiti is a small Lufthansa Group member, registered in Italy, and having the main base in MUC. It has all-Embraer fleet, consisting of 17 E195s and 9 E190s (the latter were transferred from Lufthansa CityLine - the overly complex structure of LHG, conditioned by top management' obsession on labor costs optimization, is one of the craziest in the world).
Embraer E195 Operators
E195 is the largest member of E1-jet family, but, despite being quite versatile aircraft, it saw quite limited popularity (mainly due to US scope clauses, which rules out the huge US domestic market for any Embraer larger than E175). It would be useful to list its current operators and their layouts.
1) Air Dolomiti: 17 units (CY122).
2) Airlink: 6 units (C11_Y96).
3) Air Montenegro: 2 units (CY116) plus 1 unit (CY118).
4) Air Peace: 1 unit.
5) Air Serbia: 2 units (CY118).
6) Arkia: 3 units (Y122).
7) Austrian Airlines: 17 units (CY120).
8) Azul Brazilian Airlines: 27 units (Y118). 11 units are parked.
9) Belavia: 4 units (C11_Y96).
10) Helvetic Airways: 3 units (Y122) plus 1 unit (Y118).
11) LOT Polish Airlines: 6 units (CY112) plus 10 units (CY118).
12) Lumiwings: 1 unit (Y118).
13) Marathon Airlines: 1 units (Y118).
14) Portugalia Airlines: 7 units (CY118), operating for TAP Express.
15) SAS Link: 15 units (CY122).
16) Tianjin Airlines: 14 units (Y122).
Munich Josef Straus International Airport (MUC)
MUC, located quite far from Munich, but well-connected with the city by rail link, is one of the best organized airports in EU. It has 2 terminals, connected by a "plaza": dated Terminal 1 and modern and spacious Terminal 2 with midfield concourse (connected with T2 by shuttle train). T2 serves Lufthansa Group members along with LHG's select Star Alliance partners, whereas T1 serves all the rest airlines in MUC.
My flight from Mexico arrived to midfield concourse, from where I transited to the main T2 building, from where my flight to MXP was departing. Everything went smooth (except of some traditional Deutsche Gehirnficken at the immigration) and with 3-hour connection I had more than enough time to spare.
The Aircraft
My flight from Munich to Malpensa was operated by 2009-built I-ADJO. Back then it had CY116 layout and the old EN livery, but since then it was repainted into the new livery and in 2022 was reconfigured to CY122 layout. It was not possible to make a decent photos of the aircraft in MUC, and I made it later in MXP.
The 1L door.
The Cabin
The cabin back then consisted of 116 seats in the standard 2-2 layout. In 2022 additional 6 seats were added, decreasing the row pitch.
Some cabin views during boarding:
The Economy Seat
The economy seats were quite slimline, but with comfortable seatback. The seatwidth was generous: 18". The seats had leather upholstery, tray table, upper hard and lower soft seat pockets. The seat pitch back then was good.
The seat pocket content was abundant:
The Flight
Immediately after takeoff from MUC we started crossing the Alps with the high-level cloud layer damping the morning light.
A croissant and drinks were served on this short flight, which is nice. The crew were friendly.
A couple of inflight cabin views.
Tour de lavatoirie.
The Cabin After The Flight
Some detailed cabin views upon disembarkment.
The Aircraft After The Flight
While waiting for my next flight (KLM to AMS), from the T1 MXP check-in hall I spotted I-ADJO, departing back to MUC. Symbolically, it passed a former Air Berlin (which went bust just a month before) DH4 which then joined the Eurowings fleet (since then Lufthansa Group abolished the EW brand).
Thank you for your attention and see you in the next FRs!
