Known for its affordable prices and good service focused on serving the Brazilian Northeast, Condor airline made its last flight to the country this weekend. The flight DE 2347 took off from Fortaleza on Sunday and landing in Frankfurt on Monday, ending its operation in Brazil. Before that, last week, the company had already made the last frequency to Recife, its other destination in the region.
Affected by the bankruptcy of British travel company Thomas Cook, which owns 49.9% of its shares, Condor requested help from the German government, which offered to make a bridge loan of 380 million euros to keep it operating for the next six months. However, the value depends on an audit carried out by the European Commission that only then will approve the transfer.
Although it claims that its routes continued to operate normally, Condor decided to suspend flights to Brazil. In a note, the German airline did not explain the reason for leaving the Brazilian market, although it has hinted that they would not be profitable. Nevertheless, he says he is “continually monitoring his flight network,” opening the possibility of returning in the future.
Condor started flying to several destinations in Brazil in 2016, including Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, but has remained focused on Recife and Fortaleza in recent years. The company even had a code-share agreement with Azul Linhas Aereas to allow its passengers to travel to other destinations.
On the company’s website, you can still find deals for Recife and Rio de Janeiro, but using Copa Airlines flights that take customers to Punta Cana, where an Air Tanker A330 connects with Frankfurt, a trip that can last almost 30 hours.
Founded in 1955, Condor had Lufthansa as a partner and five years later took over the company entirely, including applying a similar paint to its aircraft. In the 2000s, the Thomas Cook Group became a partner of Condor and completed its purchase in 2009. Earlier this year, the British company was approached by Lufthansa who showed an interest in repurchasing it. With 53 aircraft in its fleet, including models A320, A321 and 757, the German company uses the widebody 767-300ER, in its long-haul flights including until yesterday flights to Brazil.
