After the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook, the holiday plane Condor also stumbled. The airline can only stay in the air with an aid loan from the federal government and the state of Hesse. But now a buyer has apparently been found. According to insiders, it should be the Polish airline LOT.
The holiday plane Condor continues to fly under a new owner: After months of searching, the ailing airline has found a buyer. The airline, which was caught up in the Thomas Cook bankruptcy, invites you to a press conference in Frankfurt at 11 a.m. It is about “together with the new owner” to inform about the future of Condor with its approximately 5000 employees, the airline said. The name of the buyer was initially not mentioned.
According to three insiders, the Polish airline LOT takes over the holiday plane Condor. “LOT is awarded the contract,” said a person familiar with the process, Reuters news agency. Two other insiders confirmed this. Condor did not want to comment on this.
Most recently, three serious interested parties were mentioned in media reports in the bidding process for Condor: in addition to the Polish airline LOT, these were the US financial investor Apollo together with German tour operators and a co-investor, and as the third bidder the British investment company Greybull.
The competitor of Lufthansa and TUI fly was only able to continue working with its approximately 4900 employees thanks to a state loan of over 380 million euros limited to six months and a special insolvency procedure. The loan must be repaid by mid-April.
Cuts for employees
The Frankfurt airline had mostly flown in profits in recent years and is also an important business partner for German tour operators. Most recently, Condor employees had to accept cuts to make the company more attractive to a buyer.
CEO Ralf Teckentrup’s goal was to improve the airline’s profit prospects by reducing costs and to sell the company as a whole if possible. For example, it was decided to cut 170 out of 750 jobs in the central Frankfurt administration. Condor also recently agreed with the unions Verdi and Ufo on a reorganization collective agreement, which provided for the cancellation of 150 flight attendant positions.
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