Back كوندور للطيران Arabic كوندور للطيران ARZ Condor Flugdienst Czech Condor Danish Condor Flugdienst German Condor (αεροπορική εταιρεία) Greek Condor Flugdienst Spanish Condor Estonian کوندور فلوگدینست Persian Condor Finnish

Condor (airline)

For the 1920s German-Brazilian airline, see Condor Syndikat.

Condor Flugdienst GmbH
IATA ICAO Call sign
DE[1] CFG CONDOR
Founded21 December 1955 (1955-12-21)
(as Deutsche Flugdienst GmbH)
Commenced operations29 March 1956 (1956-03-29)
Operating bases
Frequent-flyer program
Fleet size56[2]
Destinations94[3]
Parent companyAttestor Capital
HeadquartersNeu Isenburg, Hesse, Germany
Key peoplePeter Gerber (CEO)
Employees4,900+
Websitewww.condor.com

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.[4]

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 bankruptcy; however, Condor received a bridge loan from the German government to remain in operation, as a subsidiary of Thomas Cook.[5][6] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a planned acquisition of the airline by Polish Aviation Group, owner of LOT Polish Airlines, fell through.[7][8][9] In May 2021, a majority stake in the airline was acquired by Attestor, a British investment firm.[10]

  1. ^ "IATA – Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference condorfleetofficial was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Condor on ch-aviation". ch-aviation. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 68.
  5. ^ "The German leisure airline Condor continues flight operations". Condor Newsroom (Press release). 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  6. ^ Buyck, Cathy (25 September 2019). "Condor Secures Government-Backed Bridging Loan". Air Transport News: Aviation International News. The Convention News Company, Inc. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  7. ^ "LOT Polish Airlines owner buys Condor". CH-Aviation. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Owner of Poland's LOT airline buys Thomas Cook unit Condor". Associated Press. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference aerotime was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference newowners was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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