German leisure airline Condor is about to reach a major milestone in its fleet modernization project. I can’t help but take a moment to recognize just how quickly the airline did this, and to contrast that to what’s going on at a certain other German airLHine.
In this post:
Condor transitions from Boeing 767-300ER to Airbus A330-900neo
Historically, Condor has primarily used Boeing 767s for its long haul flights. These planes were outdated, and featured rather uncomfortable angled seats in business class. Then again, Condor is a leisure airline that used to fly mostly in markets with no competition, and the airline also offered good value.
In July 2021, Condor announced a major project to modernize its fleet. The airline placed an order for Airbus A330-900neos, which were intended to replace the entire fleet of Boeing 767-300ERs. While the airline initially ordered 16 of these jets, that order has now been upped to 21 frames.
What’s nothing short of amazing is how quickly this entire project has taken place:
- Between December 2022 and January 2024, Condor has taken delivery of 13 Airbus A330-900neos, with an additional eight on order
- Condor has progressively been retiring its Boeing 767-300ERs; the airline is now down to two of these, and as of mid-March 2024, the airline will fully retire this fleet, meaning Condor will only fly Airbus A330-900neos on long haul flights
So over the course of 15 months, the airline has gone from primarily flying Boeing 767s on long haul flights, to exclusively flying Airbus A330s. This isn’t just great in terms of fuel efficiency, but what’s equally exciting is the greatly improved product that Condor has introduced on these jets.
Condor has an excellent business class product on its new jets, with direct aisle access from every seat, plus a “premium” business class product in the first row. So from a passenger’s standpoint, this fleet modernization has been a game changer, as this isn’t just about an aircraft with better economics.
This is quite a contrast to Lufthansa
Look, I don’t want to pick on Lufthansa, because it’s just too easy. But I can’t help but point out the sharp contrast between how Condor and Lufthansa are improving their passenger experience.
Condor announced its aircraft order in mid-2021, and less than three years later, the airline has its new product across its fleet. Meanwhile Lufthansa announced its new Allegris business class product in 2017, and nearly seven years later, not a single aircraft features this product. Not one.
At this point Condor has a consistent business class product with direct aisle access from all seats, while Lufthansa has… hopes and dreams, and maybe we’ll see a plane or two with the new cabins by this summer… maybe?
Let me of course acknowledge that Condor has a much smaller fleet than Lufthansa does, so no one expects Lufthansa to overhaul its entire fleet in just over a year. However, I’d like to think that I’m not being unreasonable for expecting some progress over seven years.
Bottom line
Condor has done a commendable job updating its long haul fleet. The airline announced an order for Airbus A330-900neos in mid-2021, and less than three years later, this is the plane that the airline will exclusively operate on long haul flights.
This marks the end of an era for Condor’s Boeing 767-300ERs. Honestly, I’m going to miss those planes. I have fond memories flying Condor’s 767s from Tampa to Frankfurt when I was young, back when they still had a smoking section. Good times (well, sort of)!
What do you make of Condor’s fleet modernization?
LOVE IT . . . and SOOOOOO true! ;-)
what’s going on at a certain other German airLHine
Airbus announced last week takeoff performance improvements to the A330 Neo called Step 4 and it looks like more improvements are coming down the line.
Condor could strive to be more like LH if it wanted to. It could start a bunch of useless airlines within an airline to cannibalize it's current routes. CondorWings, CondorCity and CondorCityPlus and DiscoverCondor. Hire enough extra surly FAs to go with the pros, just to keep the pax guessing. Instead, they've chosen to keep it simple and efficient. How refreshingly boring.
And no, I don't mind their livery a bit. Disliked it at first,...
Condor could strive to be more like LH if it wanted to. It could start a bunch of useless airlines within an airline to cannibalize it's current routes. CondorWings, CondorCity and CondorCityPlus and DiscoverCondor. Hire enough extra surly FAs to go with the pros, just to keep the pax guessing. Instead, they've chosen to keep it simple and efficient. How refreshingly boring.
And no, I don't mind their livery a bit. Disliked it at first, but now I think it's sharp and original.
Condor has a lot of potential, just flew them TATL in Prime seats. Service could use some personalization, but I honestly chalk it up to German efficiency. Their load factors seemed pretty good as well.
I was surprised by their small footprint at FRA tho. It really is the LH show still. Condor should focus more on US to Leisure routes. You can't book US to FRA to MLE (or other seasonal destinations) w/ them today, but that's such a lucrative market.
NOT really true!
You CAN book US (not all departure cities, due to schedule) all the way to Male.
Just need to do that manually and sometimes pretty decent dares in Premium Y & Business.
Return flight needs an overnight in FRA, but also doable!
e.g. bookable in different reservation systems, NEED the help of a Pro Travel agent, OTA or flight portals DON'T work! ;-)
Who would have ever...
NOT really true!
You CAN book US (not all departure cities, due to schedule) all the way to Male.
Just need to do that manually and sometimes pretty decent dares in Premium Y & Business.
Return flight needs an overnight in FRA, but also doable!
e.g. bookable in different reservation systems, NEED the help of a Pro Travel agent, OTA or flight portals DON'T work! ;-)
Who would have ever think, those websites are too dumb to be overrules by a Travel Agent. ha ha ha That's what those PRO's are there for!
Maybe they should chargre extra for special meals
The 767 was great for coach pax ex. as far as seat layout is concerned. 2-3-2 is hard to beat. These days, when it comes to buying new planes, the a330neo is the closest you can come to this for long haul with 2-4-2. A350 and 787 are pretty much universally 3-3-3 (except for what, JAL 787s?). Of course, for those riding up front, wider fuselage is always better.
Clever! Condor did make the transition at lightning speed. I think of Delta who stated that their 767's will be retired in 7 years. No hurry at Delta either. Not to mention Uniteds 767's which appear to be headed into the next century.
It doesn't hurt that sales of the A330NEO have been slow - it has a production rate of just 2 aircraft/month. It is costly for low cost carriers to operate multiple fleets so Condor has taken delivery of planes fairly quickly in order to minimize the cost of the transition.
Delta, the largest customer and operator for the A330NEO, is nearing the end of its order so it will be interesting to see what...
It doesn't hurt that sales of the A330NEO have been slow - it has a production rate of just 2 aircraft/month. It is costly for low cost carriers to operate multiple fleets so Condor has taken delivery of planes fairly quickly in order to minimize the cost of the transition.
Delta, the largest customer and operator for the A330NEO, is nearing the end of its order so it will be interesting to see what Airbus does to keep sales going. Many of the larger global airlines have not been interested in it, preferring the A350 or B787 but it has great economics and performance for flights of 12-13 hours and it costs much less to build than the comparably sized 787-9. There are rumors - take them for what they are worth - that UA might consider them because it can't 787s fast enough.
Condor's efficiency is bound to go up as they become an all A330NEO operator.
"There are rumors - take them for what they are worth - that UA might consider them because it can't 787s fast enough"
This is very unlikely
It's probably a baseless rumour.
UA has A350's on order.
If they're having B787 delivery delays, they could just go back to that and push deliveries forward.
If UA could have it's way, I suspect they will just operate only B787 and B777 in the future...
"There are rumors - take them for what they are worth - that UA might consider them because it can't 787s fast enough"
This is very unlikely
It's probably a baseless rumour.
UA has A350's on order.
If they're having B787 delivery delays, they could just go back to that and push deliveries forward.
If UA could have it's way, I suspect they will just operate only B787 and B777 in the future (but Boeing's woes might give them serious reasons to keep the A350 order).
Though I heard American is strongly looking at the A350 as part of a combined offer from Airbus for the A321NEO.
Right!
not to hijack a perfectly good Condor discussion but
there are RUMORS of Airbus selling widebodies to both AA and UA.
The reasons for interest in the A350 are different from potential reasons for acquiring the A330NEO.
The A330NEO is readily available and low cost to produce - it is not a largely carbon fiber aircraft like the A350 or B787 - and so is not as light but is a derivative...
not to hijack a perfectly good Condor discussion but
there are RUMORS of Airbus selling widebodies to both AA and UA.
The reasons for interest in the A350 are different from potential reasons for acquiring the A330NEO.
The A330NEO is readily available and low cost to produce - it is not a largely carbon fiber aircraft like the A350 or B787 - and so is not as light but is a derivative aircraft for which Airbus simply has to recover the fairly low development costs for the A330NEO modifications from the A330CEO- basically engines that are related to the Rolls Royce engine option on the B787 - and associated airframe modifications etc - and the winglets and airframe modifications which are derived from the A350.
The A330NEO's economics become less favorable at its longer ranges but it can do long flights and it is cheaper for low cost carriers to schedule a few 13-14 flights on the A330NEO alongside their shorter flights - such as Condor to the US - than to incorporate another aircraft type.
I don't think UA will order the A330NEO either. The question is just where Airbus might get more sales and what that ultimately means for the A330 program.
So far, ALL US Airlines have made the mistake to believe in BOEING, instead of going with a plane that could (without any trouble, A330-neo) be in the air and cause little to no confusions.
Beginning with Hawaiian caxed there A-330-neo orders, BIG "massive" mistake i think.
Now they got mixed fleet again and the need of a ton of Cockpit personell!
STUPID
UA, not investing in wide-body Airbus fleet, another BIG...
So far, ALL US Airlines have made the mistake to believe in BOEING, instead of going with a plane that could (without any trouble, A330-neo) be in the air and cause little to no confusions.
Beginning with Hawaiian caxed there A-330-neo orders, BIG "massive" mistake i think.
Now they got mixed fleet again and the need of a ton of Cockpit personell!
STUPID
UA, not investing in wide-body Airbus fleet, another BIG mistake, . . . but i bet, very soon that airline will regret NOT going with Airbus as well!
TRIVIA FACTOID:
If they did order it, this would actually be UA's second firm (and built!) A330 order. ;)
Though they themselves never operated the aircraft before.
remind us when was and the details of the first
I'm also going to miss the Condor B767 - it was my first business class flight ever from MSP to FRA. Back in the days I was upgraded at the gate by a nice agent without asking for it (I just wanted to switch seats..). There was no need to do it, no op-up.. Never happened again :D