note

Deutsche Flugdienst was a charter carrier owned by two German shipping firms, a German railway company, and Lufthansa. It began flying on March 29, 1956 using a fleet of Vickers Vikings. By 1960 Lufthansa acquired all the shares that it didn't own. In 1061 Lufthansa acquired Condor-Luftreederei, merged it with Deutsche Flugdienst, and renamed the carrier Condor Flugdienst. In 1963 Condor had 63% of the German leisure air travel market. Rapid growth of leisure market in late 1960s and 1970s lead to rapid growth for Condor. In 1971 first Boeing 747 entered fleet, making Condor first charter airline to use the type. Fuel crisis in late 1970s forced Condor to replace Boeing 747 with smaller Douglas DC-10s on its long-haul flights. Airline flew scheduled leisure flights to North America, Brazil, Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Africa as well as all Mediterranean resorts and Canary Islands. The Thomas Cook Group began acquiring shares in Condor in 2000. The airline was briefly rebranded as Thomas Cook powered by Condor on May 1, 2003, but returned to the Condor brand in January 2004. By the end of 2006, Thomas Cook owned 75% of Condor shares. Although Condor name survived, airline's traditional modified Lufthansa livery has been changed to that of Thomas Cook Group. A plan whereby Air Berlin would acquire all of Thomas Cook's interest in Condor was announced in September 2007. In exchange, Thomas Cook would have acquired a near 30% equity in Air Berlin. The plan was abandoned a year later. The Thomas Cook Group collapsed on September 23, 2019. Condor was provided with a bridge loan from the German Government until the company could be sold. An agreement was reached to sell Condor to the parent of LOT Polish Airlines in Janary 20, but the deal was called off in April. In April 2021, 51% of Condor was sold to Attestor Capital, which provided capital for fleet modernization. In 2022, Condor launched a new leisure carrier, Marabu, which operates from Hamburg and Munich to holiday destinations. It aircraft are operated by Nordic Aviation Group.

founded - demised (age)

December 21 1955 - present  (70years)

headquarters

Postfach 1164, Kelsterbach

web

www.condor.de

base airports

EDDF International Frankfurt

related operators

Lufthansa	parent till 1997
Sudflug	merged 1992
Deutsche Flugdienst	predecessor
Condor Luftreederei	predecessor
Condor Berlin GmbH	100% subsidiary
Marabu Airlines	subsidiary