Amid growing consolidation in the German leisure market, established carriers Condor (DE, Frankfurt International) and Germania (Berlin Schönefeld) have entered into a cooperation agreement wherein either airlines' flights will be available via the others' distribution platforms.
In a joint statement, the two carriers said while their respective short- and medium-haul services would be cross-sold, ticket pricing would still be set independently by each airline.
“We are pleased to be able to offer our passengers an extended portfolio of routes and further booking options through this cooperation,” Ralf Teckentrup, Chairman of the Board of Condor Flugdienst GmbH, said. “Germania and Condor can consolidate their strengths and expand the route network and selection for our customers by countless opportunities, as soon as the cooperation begins.”
In terms of new additions, Germania's sales engine will feature Condor destinations such as Sardinia, Southern Italy, and Porto Santo while Thomas Cook Group unit Condor will be able to sell Germania's Beirut, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion, and Malaga flights. As well as supplementary destinations, the agreement will also offer passengers an increased variety of departure airports around Germany. Condor operates from nine major cities including Frankfurt International, Munich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg Helmut Schmidt, Stuttgart Manfred Rommel, Cologne/Bonn, Hannover, Leipzig/Halle, and Berlin Schönefeld while Germania operates from airports that include Bremen Hans Koschnick, Münster/Osnabrück, Dresden and Nuremberg. In total, the two airlines transport more than ten million passengers per year.
The move comes as the two operators seek to maintain their respective niches in the German market given recent events concerning Air Berlin (1991) and Lufthansa Group.
It is recalled that rival tour operator TUI Group is set to contribute its TUI fly (Germany) (X3, Hannover) unit to a newly consolidated European leisure operator whose other interest includes the soon-to-be ex-Air Berlin unit, Austria's Niki (Austria) (Vienna).
