Condor Airlines
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| Condor Airlines | ||
|---|---|---|
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| IATA DE |
ICAO CFG |
Callsign CONDOR |
| Founded | 1955 | |
| Hubs | Frankfurt International Airport | |
| Focus cities | Munich International Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | Miles & More | |
| Fleet size | 34 | |
| Destinations | 68 | |
| Parent company | Thomas Cook Group plc | |
| Company slogan | Wir lieben Fliegen (We love To Fly) | |
| Headquarters |  Oberursel, Germany |
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| Key people | ||
| Website: http://www.condor.com/ | ||
Condor Flugdienst is an airline based in Germany. It is Germany's largest holiday airline, operating services to the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean. Its main base is Frankfurt International Airport, with a hub at Munich International Airport[1].
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[edit] History
The airline was established on 21 December 1955, as Deutsche Flugdienst GmbH, and started operations on 28 March 1956. A slump in the charter market in early 1960 led to its takeover by Lufthansa and the change of name to Condor Flugdienst on 25 October 1961[1], during which time it operated four Vickers Viscount and two Fokker F27 aircraft.
From 1965 to 1969 Condor saw enormous growth as it transitioned to an all-jet fleet. Its first jet was a Boeing 727, followed in 1967 by a Boeing 707, and by 1969 a Douglas DC-8, several 727s, and three Boeing 737s were added to its fleet. This was followed by a Boeing 747 in 1971, shortly after which time the airline began service to North America. Hit hard by the 1970s fuel crisis, the airline got rid of its 747s and added three McDonnell Douglas DC-10 planes for its long-haul routes, with Airbus A300 planes added in 1981.
During the early 1990s it upgraded its fleet with Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 planes. At this point it was a major player in the charter airline world, flying to 65 exotic destinations and major cities worldwide. It was amalgamated with Südflug in August 1992.
C&N Touristic, the parent company of Condor, was renamed Thomas Cook AG following C&N's acquisition of the UK tour group. In March 2003 the airline was rebranded Thomas Cook - Powered by Condor as part of the group's rebranding. Condor Berlin was absorbed into Thomas Cook AG during the rebranding in March 2003. However, the branding was reversed in May 2004 and a new CEO decided to use the old and very traditional name Condor again.[citation needed]
On 20 September 2007, airberlin announced that it would acquire Condor in a deal that would give Thomas Cook a 30% stake in airberlin.[2]
It was however announced on June 24, 2008 that slowing economies, combined with delays in getting anti-trust approval for the merger, in addition to airberlin's announcement of their grounding of 14 aircraft and nearly 30% reduction in longhaul capacity due to the cutting of several unprofitable routed, has forced the two parties involved to further review the purchase of Condor. [3]
[edit] Destinations
[edit] Fleet
The Condor Flugdienst fleet consists of the following aircraft (at March 2008):
As of March 2008[update], the Condor fleet age was 10.1 years old. [4]
[edit] Livery
Condor's livery consists of the word "Condor" written in blue across the all-white fuselage of the airplane, in the same style as on Thomas Cook planes. The tail is painted with the Thomas Cook logo on a blue background, the same as planes flying under the Thomas Cook name. In the 1990s, Condor's livery reflected that of Lufthansa, with an all white fuselage airplane, the letters "Condor" written in black on top of the front windows, and an all yellow tail with Condor's logo of a blue bird inside a blue circle, very similar to Lufthansa's 1970s logo.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International (2007-04-03), p. 68.
- ^ "Air Berlin seeks to buy Condor, give T. Cook stake" Reuters, Frankfurt, 20-Sept-2007.
- ^ "Air Berlin, Thomas Cook Review Condor Transaction" Bloomberg, Frankfurt, 24-June-2008.
- ^ Condor Fleet Age
[edit] External links
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