Condor, legally incorporated as Condor Flugdienst GmbH (), is a German airline based in Neu Isenburg, Hesse. It was established in 1955 with Frankfurt Airport as its main base. Condor offers scheduled and charter flights and operates, from Germany, medium-haul flights to the Mediterranean Basin and the Canary Islands as well as long-haul flights to destinations in Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and the Caribbean. Whereas medium-haul flights are operated from many German airports and Zurich, long-haul flights usually depart from Frankfurt, with a few charter services operated from Düsseldorf and Munich.

The airline was originally established as Deutsche Flugdienst GmbH on 21 December 1955. Its initial fleet consisted of three 36-passenger Vickers VC.1 Viking aircraft. The airline's first tourist-oriented flight commenced on 29 March 1956. In 1961, Deutsche Flugdienst took over its rival Condor-Luftreederei and subsequently adopted Condor Flugdienst GmbH as its operating name. During 1966, Condor launched its first long-haul flights. By this time, the airline had a majority market share of Germany's tourism air travel market. During the 1990s, Condor was restructured and merged with other businesses to become an integrated tourism concern known as C&N Touristik.

In 2000, the Condor shares held by Lufthansa were acquired by both Thomas Cook AG and Thomas Cook Group. On 4 February 2013, Thomas Cook Group announced that Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, and Condor would be merged into a single operating segment of the Thomas Cook Group, Thomas Cook Group Airlines.

On 23 September 2019, Condor's parent company Thomas Cook Group filed for bankruptcy; however, Condor received a bridge loan from the German government to remain in operation, as a subsidiary of Thomas Cook. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a planned acquisition of the airline by Polish Aviation Group, owner of LOT Polish Airlines, fell through. In 1961, Deutsche Flugdienst took over its rival Condor-Luftreederei (which had been founded in 1957 by Oetker), subsequently changing its name to Condor Flugdienst GmbH, thus introducing the "Condor" name with Lufthansa.

1996 was Condor Flugdienst GmbHs 40th anniversary; to mark the occasion, American artist James Rizzi redecorated a Boeing 757 as a flying work of art, which was sometimes referred to as the Rizzi-Bird. To increase operational flexibility, Condor frequently trained its pilots so that they could operate both the Boeing 757 and 767 without any restrictions.

During 1998, the airline established Condor Berlin GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary headquartered at Berlin Schönefeld Airport. This new entity was a low-cost carrier intended to compete with rivals such as Aero Lloyd and Air Berlin; Condor estimated that its subsidiary's costs ought to be about 20% lower than the parent company's own. That same year, Condor placed orders for six Airbus A320-200 airliners, the most technologically modern short-haul aircraft in the world at that time; that airline would subsequently operate twelve aircraft of the type in its fleet. Thus, Condor became an integrated tourism concern. The process of transforming Condor from a Lufthansa subsidiary to a part of Thomas Cook (along with Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia began with the rebranding as Thomas Cook powered by Condor on 1 March 2003. However, on 11 September 2008, this plan was abandoned.

On 17 September 2012, the airline signed a codeshare agreement with the Mexican low-cost carrier, Volaris.

On 12 March 2013, Condor and the Canadian airline WestJet agreed on an interline partnership which will offer customers connecting flights to/from 17 destinations in Canada. This agreement expands the network of both airlines, allowing passengers to connect beyond each airline's own network.

On 4 February 2013, the Thomas Cook Group announced that Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, and Condor would merge into a single operating segment of the Thomas Cook Group, Thomas Cook Group Airlines. On 1 October 2013, the Thomas Cook Group began presenting itself under the new unified brand symbol. The aircraft of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines also had the new logo: the Sunny Heart added to their tails and were re-painted in the new corporate color scheme grey, white, and yellow. On the aircraft, the Sunny Heart on the tail is meant to symbolize the unification of airline brands and tour operators within the entire Thomas Cook Group.

Condor refurbished the cabins on all of its Boeing 767-300 long-haul aircraft. All economy class and premium economy class seats were replaced with new seats from ZIM Flugsitz GmbH. Condor kept its successful Premium Economy Class with more legroom and added services. The new Business Class seats (Zodiac Aerospace) offer fully automated, angled-lie-flat seats capable of inclining to an angle of 170 degrees with a bed length of . The airline added seats in its new Business Class section from 18 to 30 seats on three of its Boeing 767 aircraft. New in-flight entertainment includes personal screens for all passengers throughout all three classes of service. Condor will implement the RAVE IFE technology of Zodiac In-flight Entertainment. On 27 June 2014, Condor completed the cabin refurbishment for all of its long-haul Boeing 767 aircraft.

In early 2017, Condor's CEO Ralf Teckentrup introduced a plan to cut operating costs by €40 million, because of the €14 million operating cost loss and the €1.4 billion revenue drop. The passenger numbers also dropped by 6%. Condor had also planned new routes to the United States for San Diego, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh; all flights are operated by the 767-300ER.

On 25 September 2019, Condor secured additional credit facilities of €380 million to keep flying, despite the collapse of Thomas Cook Group. On the same day, a Frankfurt court authorised investor protection measures to allow Condor to be restructured. On 1 December 2019, the Frankfurt district formally opened these proceedings under the "Schutzschirmverfahren" (protective shield proceedings) clause with the liquidator, , requesting creditors to register their claims with him by 8 January 2020.

On 24 January 2020, Condor announced that PGL Polish Aviation Group would be buying Condor and the deal was expected to close in April 2020 once antitrust approvals are obtained. With this deal, PGL was expected to repay the bridge loan from Germany in full. Condor would have continued to operate under their current brand and management.

2021–present

thumb|The first Condor [[Airbus A321 to feature the new livery in 2022.]]

On 20 May 2021, Attestor Capital acquired 51% of the airline and announced that it would provide €200 million of equity capital and a further €250 million to modernise Condor's long-haul fleet. In July 2021, the European Commission approved a €525.3 million aid package offered by the German government. On 28 July 2021, the airline announced an order of 16 Airbus A330-900 to replace its current fleet of Boeing 767-300ER. The order was later expanded to 18 aircraft,

In April 2022, Condor announced a major change to its corporate design including a revised logo and an entirely new aircraft livery composed of distinctive stripes encircling the fuselage with one of five colors that alternate with white (the stripes being yellow, red, blue, green, or beige), replacing the former Thomas Cook design. On 25 July 2022, the airline announced an order of 13 Airbus A320neo and 28 Airbus A321neo to replace its existing fleet of Airbus A320 family and Boeing 757-300. On 19 December 2022, Condor received its first of overall 21 Airbus A330-900 in Frankfurt to renew its entire long-haul fleet. The aircraft's first revenue flight took off on 27 December to Mauritius. The second aircraft followed only a few days later on 30 December 2022.

In December 2024, Condor announced it would terminate all flights to destinations in Cuba (to Havana, Varadero and Holguin) in 2025, citing receding demand while issues with the local infrastructure had increased in recent years. Shortly after, Condor also announced it would terminate flights to six of its North American destinations (San Antonio, Phoenix, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Halifax and Edmonton).

In October 2025, Condor announced the closure of their base at Leipzig/Halle Airport with immediate effect, handing over a downsized network to sister carrier Marabu.

In November 2025, Condor retired its last Boeing 757, bringing to an end 35 years of it operating Boeing aircraft.

Destinations

thumb|Countries and dependencies in which Condor operates (January 2026)

Network developments

In summer 2025, Condor expanded its European city network from Frankfurt to include Rome, Milan, Prague, Vienna, Zurich, Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich.

The airline also launched new short-haul leisure routes from Vienna to Rhodes, Kos, and Palma de Mallorca.

On the long-haul side, frequencies to Miami and Mauritius were increased, Johannesburg and Bangkok became permanent routes, and Panama City was added as a new destination.

During the 2024/25 season, Condor reported operating over 2,500 flights on newly introduced routes, carrying more than 100,000 passengers, with an on-time performance rate of 88%.

Withdrawn routes

Following a German Federal Court of Justice ruling in 2024 that ended Condor’s feeder agreement with Lufthansa, the airline discontinued several transatlantic routes. Services to San Antonio, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Edmonton, and Halifax were withdrawn for the 2025 summer schedule.

Codeshare agreements

Condor has Codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

  • Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines
  • Deutsche Bahn
  • Emirates
  • Marabu
  • TAROM
  • WestJet

Interline agreements

  • airBaltic
  • Air Dolomiti
  • Air North
  • Alaska Airlines
  • Austrian Airlines
  • BahamasAir
  • Copa Airlines
  • Emirates
  • Flydubai
  • Hahn Air
  • JetBlue
  • Gol Transportes Aéreos
  • LOT Polish Airlines
  • Lufthansa
  • Malaysia Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines
  • Sun Country Airlines
  • Swiss International Air Lines
  • Volaris
  • WestJet

Corporate affairs

Headquarters

thumb|The former head office near Frankfurt Airport at its inauguration in 2012. The flight attendants are wearing uniforms from different generations for the occasion.

Condor has been headquartered in Neu-Isenburg since 2020. It was previously headquartered in Kelsterbach and later Frankfurt.

In January 2010, the airline broke ground on their then new headquarters in Gateway Gardens, an office complex in Flughafen, Frankfurt, across the Bundesautobahn 3 from Frankfurt Airport. 380 ground employees worked in the building, and pre-flight briefings for about 2,000 flight attendants were held in the building. Prior to its redevelopment, the land housed families stationed at a U.S. military base. Groß & Partner and OFB Projektentwicklung developed the seven-floor facility. The building is situated between the park and the central plaza, in the "Quartier Mondo" area of Gateway Gardens. It housed Condor's corporate headquarters, a training and education center with a flight simulator, and the airline's flight operations facility. of the facility included small units rented to other tenants and a café and restaurant on the building's first floor. The building opened in the spring of 2012.

In May 2025, Condor announced it would return to Gateway Gardens, renting ten floors. The airline is scheduled to relocate to the Alpha Rotex building in February 2026, with approximately 800 to 900 employees expected to work at the new headquarters.

The Alpha Rotex building, formerly occupied by DB Schenker, is located at the western end of Gateway Gardens—a move intended to enhance operational synergy by bringing administrative staff closer to Frankfurt Airport and its crews.

Subsidiaries

Condor Berlin

At the beginning of 1998, Condor founded Condor Berlin GmbH (CIB), a wholly owned subsidiary headquartered in Berlin-Schönefeld. It used the ICAO code CIB and operated on short and medium-haul routes with its Airbus A320-200 until its integration into the parent company on 1 May 2013.

InterCondor

InterCondor was a planned joint-venture between then West-German Condor and East-German Interflug that was set to start operations in the year 1990 with Boeing 757s. However it was abandoned because of Interflug ending operations in 1991.

ACMI arrangements

Condor had five ACMI arrangements in 2025. As of summer season 2025 Fly Air41 Airways operates 4 aircraft for Condor of which two Airbus A319 are based in Frankfurt and two Airbus A320 in are based in Düsseldorf, and has been cooperating with Condor since the summer 2023 season. Fly Air41's destinations under Condor's flight number include destinations along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, Armenia, Canary Islands and Madeira. Heston Airlines has cooperated with Condor since year 2022, and is operating the same aircraft type as Fly Air41 Airways. Other airlines that Condor cooperates with are Marabu (since 2023), European Air Charter (since 2020) and Bulgaria Air (since 2022).

Fleet

The airline operates an All-Airbus fleet consisting of the A320-200, A320neo, A321-200, A321neo and A330-900.

Condor received its first A330-900 in late 2022.

Current fleet

, Condor operates an all-Airbus fleet composed of the following aircraft:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; border-collapse:collapse;text-align:center"

|-

!rowspan="2"|Aircraft

!rowspan="2"|In service

!rowspan="2"|Orders

!colspan="5"|Passengers

!rowspan="2"|Notes

|-

!<abbr title="Business">C</abbr>

!<abbr title="Premium Economy">P</abbr>

!<abbr title="Economy">Y</abbr>

!Total

!Refs

|-

|Airbus A320-200

|10

|&mdash;

|24

|—

|156

|180

|

|To be retired and replaced by Airbus A320neo.

|Two additional units ordered December 2023.

|-

|rowspan="2"|Airbus A321-200

|rowspan="2"|13

|rowspan="2"|&mdash;

|rowspan="2"|24

|rowspan="2"|—

|186

|210

|rowspan="2"|

|rowspan="2"|To be retired and replaced by Airbus A321neo.

|Order with 4 options. Deliveries scheduled until 2031.

|-

!Total

!50

!46

! colspan="6" |

|}

Historical fleet

Over the years, Condor operated the following aircraft types:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; border-collapse:collapse;text-align:center"

|-

!Aircraft

!Total

!Introduced

!Retired

!Notes

|-

|Airbus A300B4

|9

|1979

|1988

|

|-

|Airbus A310-200

|3

|1985

|1991

|

|-

|Airbus A310-300

|2

|1987

|1999

|

|-

|Airbus A319-100

|1

|2011

|2011

|Leased from Hamburg Airways

|-

|rowspan=4|Airbus A330-200

|1

|2017

|2018

|Leased from Air Transat

|-

|1

|2019

|2020

|Leased from AirTanker

|-

|4

|2022

|2024

|Leased in preparation of Airbus A330neo deliveries.

|-

|Airbus A330-300

|2

|2022

|2023

|Operated by SmartLynx Airlines Malta

|-

|Beechcraft 65

|4

|1964

|1966

|

|-

|Boeing 707-320B

|5

|1967

|1981

|

|-

|Boeing 707-320C

|1

|1977

|1979

|

|-

|Boeing 707-420

|1

|1975

|1976

|

|-

|Boeing 727-100

|7

|1966

|1982

|

|-

|Boeing 727-200

|8

|1973

|1989

|

|-

|Boeing 737-100

|3

|1969

|1971

|Leased from Lufthansa

|-

|Boeing 737-200

|4

|1981

|1988

|

|-

|Boeing 737-300

|9

|1987

|1998

|

|-

|Boeing 747-200B

|2

|1971

|1979

|Condor was the first leisure airline worldwide to operate the 747 (one later crashed while operating as KAL 007).

|-

|Boeing 747-200M

|1

|1979

|1980

|Leased from Lufthansa

|-

|Boeing 747-400M

|1

|1993

|1996

|Leased from Lufthansa to operate the Taipei route.

|-

|Boeing 757-200

|20

|1990

|2006

|

|-

|Boeing 757-300

|15

|1999

|2025

|Launch customer.

|-

|British Aerospace 125

|2

|1967

|1971

|Leased from and operated by Conti-Flug.

|-

|Convair CV-240

|3

|1961

|1962

|

|-

|Douglas DC-8-33

|1

|1968

|1969

|Taken over from Südflug by Lufthansa and transferred to Condor.

|-

|Douglas DC-8-73CF

|1

|1985

|1986

|

|-

|Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation

|5

|1964

|1964

|

|-

|Lockheed L-1649A Starliner

|2

|1960

|1962

|

|-

|McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

|5

|1979

|1999

|

|-

|Fokker F27 Friendship

|2

|1965

|1968

|

|-

|Vickers Viking

|3

|1956

|1964

|

|-

|Vickers Viscount

|4

|1962

|1969

|

|}

Special liveries

Over the years, Condor fitted few of its aircraft with dedicated special liveries:

  • An Airbus A330-900 has been painted with "danke, tecke" (for the former CEO of Condor, Ralf Teckentrup) instead of the normal "condor" titles.
  • In 2024, Condor painted an Airbus A320-200 with pink stripes in support of breast cancer awareness month.
  • An Airbus A320-200, registered D-AICA, formerly wore a retro livery in the style of the 1960s. It was named Hans after Hans Geisler, the owner of the first travel agency Condor ever received a contract from in 1956.
  • A Boeing 757-300, registered D-ABON, was painted in a colorful special livery named Willi. This aircraft had been christened after the airline's former CEO, Wilfried Meyer
  • A since phased-out Boeing 757-200, registered D-ABNF, formerly wore a livery with sketches by James Rizzi, commemorating the airline's 40 year anniversary.
  • A former Boeing 767-300ER, registered D-ABUM and retired in 2022, wore a retro livery in the style of the 1970s.
  • Another former Boeing 767-300ER, registered D-ABUE, wore a special children's charity livery consisting of Janosch characters.

Loyalty and customer incentives

Condor does not operate a traditional mileage-based frequent flyer program. Instead, it offers purchasable "Condor Cards"—the "Activity Card" and "Family Card", each valid for 12 months. These cards provide "status like" benefits with e.g. priority boarding, free seat assignments or discounts on fares, vary by travel zone (Europe vs. World), and were launched with a 10% introductory discount.

Moreover, Condor maintains partnerships with Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards and Emirates Skywards, enabling passengers to earn miles when flying with Condor by entering their frequent flyer number at check-in.

Cabin

thumb|Condor economy class cabin aboard an Airbus A330-900.

Airbus A330-900

The Airbus A330-900 aircraft, which are delivered since December 2022, feature an entirely new cabin but retain Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class with the difference between the two latter ones being more legroom and additional amenities and catering. All seats feature personal 4K resolution entertainment screens, however other than on the older 767 aircraft all content is free of charge. The A330neo is also equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi. The Business Class now features a 1-2-1 seating configuration with 180-degree flat-beds and privacy dividers with the first row additionally providing more space and larger entertainment screens for an additional fee.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 17 October 1958, a Deutsche Flugdienst (as the airline was called at that time) Vickers VC.1 Viking (registered D-BELA) on a cargo flight had to carry out a forced landing near Zele in Belgium due to an engine fire. Upon impact, the aircraft caught fire and was destroyed, but all three crew members on board survived.
  • On 20 July 1970, a Condor Boeing 737-100 (registered D-ABEL) which was approaching Reus Airport, collided with a privately owned Piper Cherokee light aircraft (registration EC-BRU) near Tarragona, Spain. The Piper subsequently crashed, resulting in the death of the three persons on board. The Condor Boeing suffered only minor damage, and there were no injuries among the 95 passengers and 5 crew members.

thumb|The Condor [[Boeing 737-230 D-ABHD that crashed in 1988 as Flight 3782.]]

  • On 2 January 1988 at 19:18 local time, Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782, a Boeing 737-200 (registered D-ABHD) on a chartered service from Stuttgart to İzmir, crashed into a hill near Seferihisar whilst approaching Adnan Menderes Airport, killing all 11 passengers and 5 crew members on board. Wrong use of navigation aids and lack of adherence to company procedures especially in respect of crew coordination were given as causes for the accident.
  • On 24 June 1992, a Condor Boeing 767-300 (registered D-ABUZ) took a wrong turn after departing Porlamar Airport in Venezuela on a charter flight back to Germany, resulting in an overflight of mountainous terrain at a low altitude. The aircraft hit a TV mast on top of El Copey (with , the second highest peak on Isla Margarita) with its left wing. The wing was substantially damaged (but could later be repaired), and the pilots managed to return to Porlamar Airport, without any of the 251 passengers and 12 crew members on board being injured.

See also

  • Lufthansa
  • List of Condor Flugdienst destinations
  • Thomas Cook Airlines
  • Thomas Cook Group
  • List of charter airlines

Notes

References

  • Condor's 55th anniversary