German leisure airline Condor has announced some interesting route additions within Europe for the summer of 2025, as we’ll see the airline increasingly fly between major cities. This is great news for competition, and for consumers.
Background on Condor’s unusual route network
It’s probably useful to start by providing a bit of background. Condor has reinvented itself quite a bit in recent years. For one, the airline has massively modernized its fleet:
- For long haul flights, the airline has replaced Boeing 767-300s with Airbus A330-900neos, featuring a much improved passenger experience
- The airline is also continuing to refresh its short haul fleet, by taking delivery of Airbus A320neo family aircraft
It’s not just planes that have gotten an overhaul at Condor, but also the carrier’s route network. Historically the airline almost exclusively flew to destinations that were heavily leisure focused. However, in recent years the airline has increasingly gone head-to-head against German flag carrier Lufthansa in many long haul markets, as the airline now flies to destinations like Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, etc.
But here’s the thing — even as Condor has expanded its long haul network, the airline hasn’t done much to connect major cities within Europe. Condor’s short haul network is almost entirely to destinations that are leisure focused. We’re talking places like Antalya, Corfu, Ibiza, Tenerife, etc.
Condor has otherwise had an agreement with Lufthansa to provide it regional feed. This isn’t because Lufthansa wants to cooperate with its competitor, but rather because the government has required it, in order to ensure competition.
The companies are currently renegotiating their agreement and are having a hard time coming to an agreement, so Condor has just made an interesting announcement.
Condor is shifting its Europe strategy as of 2025
As of the summer of 2025, Condor will massively be shaking up its European route network:
- The airline will start operating flights within Germany, including from Frankfurt (FRA) to Berlin (BER), Hamburg (HAM), and Munich (MUC)
- The airline will start operating flights from Frankfurt to other major cities in Europe, including Milan (MXP), Prague (PRG), Rome (FCO), and Zurich (ZRH)
- Due to the high cost of basing aircraft in Germany, Condor will start basing some aircraft abroad, with plans to station one aircraft in Milan, Prague, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich (so that’s a total of five aircraft based abroad)
Here’s how Condor CEO Peter Gerber describes this development:
“With the eight new city connections, each of which is included in the summer flight schedule once a day, Condor is expanding its offering to include exciting city destinations where you can have a fantastic time. After all, Condor has long since ceased to be a classic vacation airline: we are consistently developing our flight schedule in line with the needs of our guests. Added to this are the exorbitantly rising location costs in Germany, which have prompted us to relocate a total of five aircraft to Zurich, Vienna, Prague, Milan and Rome in order to grow economically there.”
If you ask me, it’s super exciting to increasingly see competition on short haul routes both within Germany, and to destinations in nearby countries. Lufthansa’s short haul pricing is just terrifyingly high, so some competition will help.
Admittedly all of these routes will initially operate once daily, but hopefully they’ll beef up over time. It should help to feed into Condor’s route network, and also to give Lufthansa some much needed competition.
Bottom line
As of the summer of 2025, Condor will begin competing in more traditional city markets within Europe. The airline will start operating domestic flights within Germany, and will also operate between major European cities, like flying from Frankfurt to Milan and Rome. Anything that adds competition for Lufthansa is a good thing, as I see it, and should lead to lower fares.
What do you make of Condor’s Europe strategy shift?
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