Days after the end of the Farnborough Air Show 2022, German leisure airline Condor announced an order for thirteen Airbus A320neo and 28 A321neo, with purchase rights for an unspecified number of other aircraft.
The aircraft will gradually renew its narrowbody fleet, which consists of thirteen Boeing 757-300s, 16 Airbus A320ceo and ten A321ceo, with an average age of 16.3 years.
According to the company, the first delivery is scheduled for spring 2024, will feature Pratt & Whitney engines, PW1127G for the A320neo and PW1133G on the A321neo, allowing it a 20 % reduction in CO2 emissions and up to 50 % less noise than its current fleet.
Condor agreed to keep all details of the contracts confidential, without disclosing whether they are proprietary or via a lessor.
«With our new A320neo and A321neo we are constantly developing our fleet and ourselves as a company, and also addressing our own ambition to enable responsible and at the same time comfortable travel with significantly reduced carbon emissions, lower fuel consumption and less noise,» says Ralf Teckentrup, CEO of Condor.
After the crisis, Condor rises again
For several years Condor had been going downhill: its parent company Thomas Cook collapsed in 2019 and left the operator on the brink. In search of new shareholders, it started negotiations with Poland’s Polska Grupa Lotnicza (PGL), which backs LOT Polish Airlines, in January 2020. The coronavirus crisis eventually drove PGL away and Condor was left reeling.
Almost penniless, the historic German holiday company was supported by loans from the German state government. Finally, in May 2021, Condor introduced a new majority shareholder at a press conference: the British finance company Attestor, which acquired 51 percent of the airline’s shares.
At the end of 2021 its new investor announced an aggressive renewal that included the replacement of its Boeing 767-300ERs with 16 Airbus A330-900s arriving in the fall of 2022. The first destinations served by the latest model to join the fleet will include the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Seattle, USA.
It also introduced a revamped cabin in all three classes, which will be featured on the A330neo, and soon on the A320neo Family. Ahead of the boreal summer 2022, it presented its new livery with five color stripes.
Condor once again strengthens its position as Germany’s second largest airline.
