Condor (airline)

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.

Its initial ownership was divided between the German shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd (27.75%), trans-Atlantic shipping firm Hamburg America Line (27.75%), German flag carrier airline Deutsche Lufthansa (26%), and railway company Deutsche Bundesbahn (18.5%).

Deutsche Flugdienst's initial fleet consisted of three 36-passenger Vickers VC.1 Viking aircraft; they were based at Frankfurt Airport, which was also a prominent Lufthansa hub at that time.

During 1966, the company launched its first long-haul flights, reaching destinations such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Kenya and the Dominican Republic.

[12][14][15] 1996 was Condor Flugdienst GmbH's 40th anniversary; to mark the occasion, American artist James Rizzi redecorated a Boeing 757 as a flying work of art, which was sometimes referred to as the Rizzi-Bird.

This new entity was a low-cost carrier intended to compete with rivals such as Aero Lloyd and Air Berlin; Condor estimated that its subsidiary's costs ought to be about 20% lower than the parent company's own.

Condor's parent airline, Lufthansa, opted to break ties with Hapag-Lloyd to link up with German retailer Karstadt and NUR, its tour operator; this led to the creation of the jointly owned C&N Touristik, bringing together Germany's largest holiday airline with tour operations.

[22] On 20 September 2007, shortly after having taken over LTU International, Air Berlin announced its intention to acquire Condor in a share swap deal.

It was intended to buy the 75.1 percent of Condor shares held by Thomas Cook, with the remaining Lufthansa assets being acquired in 2010.

[25] On 12 March 2013, Condor and the Canadian airline WestJet agreed on an interline partnership which will offer customers connecting flights to/from 17 destinations in Canada.

The aircraft of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines also had the new logo: the Sunny Heart added to their tails and were re-painted in the new corporate color scheme grey, white, and yellow.

On the aircraft, the Sunny Heart on the tail is meant to symbolize the unification of airline brands and tour operators within the entire Thomas Cook Group.

Condor had also planned new routes to the United States for San Diego, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh; all flights are operated by the 767-300ER.

[33] On 25 September 2019, Condor secured additional credit facilities of €380 million to keep flying, despite the collapse of Thomas Cook Group.

[42] In December 2024, Condor announced it would terminate all flights to destinations in Cuba (to Havana, Varadero and Holguin) in 2025, citing receding demand while issues with the local infrastructure had increased in recent years.

[43] Shortly after, Condor also announced it would terminate flights to six of its North American destinations (San Antonio, Phoenix, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Halifax and Edmonton).

[67] The 14,600-square-metre (157,000 sq ft) building is situated between the park and the central plaza, in the "Quartier Mondo" area of Gateway Gardens.

2,700 square metres (29,000 sq ft) of the facility included small units rented to other tenants and a café and restaurant on the building's first floor.

It used the ICAO code CIB and operated on short and medium-haul routes with its Airbus A320-200 until its integration into the parent company on 1 May 2013.

[69] InterCondor was a planned joint-venture between then West-German Condor and East-German Interflug that was set to start operations in the year 1990 with Boeing 757s.

All seats feature personal 4K resolution entertainment screens, however other than on the older 767 aircraft all content is free of charge.

A Condor Vickers Viking 1B cargo aircraft operating for Lufthansa Cargo in 1964
Condor Vickers Viscount in 1965
Condor Boeing 707-330 in 1978
Condor Boeing 747-230 in 1976
Condor Airbus A300 in 1979
Condor Boeing 767-300ER in 2003, featuring the Thomas Cook powered by Condor livery and titles that were introduced in the 1990s.
Boeing 757-300 wearing the former Thomas Cook branded livery. The depicted tailfin logo would be replaced with Condor's own signage following the split from Thomas Cook.
Countries and dependencies in which Condor operates (September 2024) [ 45 ] [ 46 ]
The former head office near Frankfurt Airport at its inauguration. The flight attendants are wearing uniforms from different generations for the occasion.
Condor economy class cabin aboard an Airbus A330-900.
The damaged Convair CV-240 near Rimini Airport , August 1960
The Condor Boeing 737-230 D-ABHD that crashed in 1988 as Flight 3782 .