Condor Sees Future Alliance Membership

Frankfurt—German leisure specialist Condor, which has reinvented itself as a network carrier following the end of its short-haul feeder relationship with Lufthansa, sees joining an alliance and participating in European consolidation as logical next steps in the future.

During a keynote interview at Routes World 2026 in Frankfurt, Condor CEO Peter Gerber was asked whether he would consider alliance membership. “It's clear that we will look into that,” Gerber replied. “This could be a next logical step.”

He said this could come in the future, after Condor has completed its transformation.

Condor already has codeshare and interline partnerships with a range of airlines, including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Copa Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, FlyDubai, JetBlue, Qantas and WestJet.

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Further in the future, Condor sees potential to become part of a larger airline group.

“Long-term, I think we all have to understand that aviation is a size game,” he said. “In the end—in the very end— Condor needs to be part of a bigger thing. That's absolutely clear. Luckily, it's not necessary at this very moment.”

Condor can do “pretty well” as an independent airline, but the buying power and economies of scale of a larger group are “so huge” that it cannot be ignored.

Condor’s transformation followed Lufthansa’s termination of a long-standing special prorate agreement that provided favorable fares and access to seats on feeder flights.

The airline began developing its own European city network in March 2025, including domestic services from Berlin, Hamburg and Munich to Frankfurt. A three-wave daily schedule is designed to connect those flights with long-haul departures, while also attracting passengers traveling between European cities and more business traffic alongside Condor’s established leisure customers.

Athens, Florence and Stockholm are scheduled to join the city network in summer 2027, taking it to 16 destinations. Condor also plans to move to Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 3 next summer, supporting its emerging hub-and-spoke operation.