Condor, a German airline headquartered in Hesse, was established originally in 1955 as Deutsche Flugdienst GmbH, an airline that launched operating a fleet of Vickers VC.1 Viking aircraft. The carrier launched its first flights in 1956, targeting a vacation-oriented travel demographic. In 1961, the company merged with Condor Luftreederei and adopted the new name Condor Flugdienst GmbH, which remains the company’s official name today, although it is colloquially referred to as Condor Airlines
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By the time the mid-1960s rolled around, the company had captured a significant portion of the German leisure travel market and had launched flights to several long-haul destinations. In the 1990s, the company became a core element of C&N Touristik, a German general tour operator, and by 2000, Lufthansa group had sold off a stake in the airline it had purchased a few years before to Thomas Cook AG, yet another travel conglomerate.
In the mid-2010s, the company was a key piece of the Thomas Cook Airline Group, which eventually declared bankruptcy in 2019, leaving Condor in some serious trouble. Fortunately, the German government came to the airline’s rescue with emergency capital support, and the company has re-emerged under the management of British investment firm Attestor Capital, which has helped develop the airline into the unique and diversified carrier it is today.
Photo: Fabian Joy | Shutterstock
One question looms over Condor
With such extensive growth over the past few years, Condor has settled into a relative niche of its own, bridging the legacy airline and low-cost business models by creating an integrated long-, medium-, and short-haul carrier that continues to get Germans to the vacation destinations they want to go to. The airline has utilized many of its best advantages to its own benefit and has identified a loyal unique passenger that continues to fly with the carrier.
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Nonetheless, an interesting question remains: exactly what kind of airline business model does Condor operate? In this article, we will take a deeper look at exactly this question.
Photo: Soos Jozsef | Shutterstock.
The airline has some sharp differences from legacy airline business models
While defining exactly the kind of business model that Condor operates can be a little difficult, it is far easier to identify what Condo certainly is not. For starters, Condor is not a legacy airline, as it does not cater to business travelers and does not operate a traditional hub-and-spoke network.
While legacy airlines in Europe typically funnel all of their traffic through just a few hubs, Condor does not. While a legacy airline like Lufthansa may operate almost all of its flights out of Frankfurt Airport (FRA) or Munich Airport (MUC), Condor operates eight different bases at the following facilities:
- Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
- Düsseldorf Airport (DUF)
- Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Hamburg Airport (HAM)
- Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ)
- Munich Airport (MUC)
- Stuttgart Airport (STR)
- Zurich Airport (ZRH)
Furthermore, the airline does not have a well-developed loyalty program like all legacy airlines. Instead, the carrier partners with the Alaska Mileage Plan and Emirates Skywards, allowing passengers to earn and redeem miles on Condor flights without investing in its own loyalty infrastructure, according to the carrier’s website.
Photo: Olaf Schulz | Shutterstock
The airline is not really a low-cost airline
It is important to note some differences between Condor’s business model and that of a low-cost airline, although it is likely easier to make a case for Condor being a budget airline. For starters, the airline extensively serves routes to popular vacation destinations, uses a handful of different operating bases that lend themselves to a point-to-point model, and targets leisure travelers in advertising, including its striking beach-oriented livery.
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However, there are a few key points of differentiation between Condor’s business model and that of most budget airlines. A good comparison can be observed in the table below:
|
Category: |
Condor business model: |
Low-cost airline business model: |
|---|---|---|
|
Onboard cabins |
Economy and business, including lie-flat seats on long-haul flights |
Just economy |
|
Fees & surcharges |
Some, mostly those that you would expect from a legacy airline |
Charge for everything |
|
Loyalty programs |
Partnerships with Alaska Airlines & Emirates Skywards |
Very limited |
Another interesting note is that Condor operates multiple aircraft models, while most low-cost airlines pursue fleet commonality strategies, operating just one type of plane. As we can tell, there are some unique differences between airlines like Ryanair, easyJet, and Condor, mostly related to the carriers’ inflight offerings and emphasis on the passenger experience, according to The Points Guy. Condor does, in many markets, act like a long-haul low-cost carrier, but its fares rarely dip below those of legacy airlines, especially on routes where the carrier does not face any competition.
Photo: Condor
Furthermore, the airline’s long-haul business class product, which features lie-flat seating with direct aisle access, is meant to cater more to high-end leisure travelers and occasional business travelers. This contrasts sharply with proper long-haul low-cost airlines like Norse Atlantic Airways and AirAsia X, which have premium cabins that lack lie-flat seating.
So what’s the bottom line?
At the end of the day, Condor operates a hybrid business model that blends the elements of long-haul low-cost airlines, short-haul leisure carriers, and legacy airline operations. In many ways, Condor’s business model echoes that of the conglomerates it was previously a part of, which operated tour operator models.
Photo: Condor
Therefore, the best way to classify Condor is as an airline that sits mostly in a category of its own, operating a leisure-oriented network that is increasingly expanding to include new kinds of destinations. Industry observers will have to continue carefully following Condor’s growth as it charts its own course in a dynamic and rapidly changing industry.