Lufthansa: Tourist plane Discover challenges Condor
The tourism offshoot of Lufthansa removes Eurowings from its name and upgrades. This is also an attack on the former daughter and current rival Condor.
05.09.2023 | by Jens Koenen
The new design of Discover Airlines © Lufthansa
“We are working intensively on our positioning as a holiday airline in Deutschland at Frankfurt and Munich airports,” said Bernd Bauer, the airline’s CEO, on Tuesday at Frankfurt Airport. Not only a new design should help, but also a larger fleet. In 2024, six aircraft will be added, including a long-haul jet, Bauer continues. “We will also go to Munich and station five medium-haul aircraft there.” A long-haul jet is also being planned.
Because the Lufthansa-Leadership plans big with Discover. And in doing so, it is increasingly challenging another German holiday airline: Condor – formerly a subsidiary of Lufthansa. Discover is still smaller. With the new jets, the Lufthansa offshoot will have a fleet of 28 aircraft, including 13 for long-haul routes. Condor operates over 50 aircraft, 18 of which are long-haul jets, which are in the process of being replaced by modern A330neos. In addition, five more long-haul aircraft could be ordered, which the Supervisory Board has already approved.
“There is enough space for two,” Discover boss Bauer is convinced. The coexistence on long-haul routes has already worked well so far. But the offers from Discover and Condor overlap a lot. In the current summer timetable, the Lufthansa subsidiary offers 28 of the 70 destinations of the rival. On medium-haul routes, it is even around half of the connections.
The Condor management therefore accuses the competitor, which was founded in the middle of the pandemic, of having bad intentions. “Lufthansa is very clearly running a cut-throat competition,” said Condor boss Ralf Teckentrup complained to the Handelsblatt some time ago. A good example is the connection between Frankfurt and Anchorage. For more than 20 years, Condor was the only airline from Europe to offer this route. Now Discover fly there too. “That’s why more people don’t fly there now,” says Teckentrup: “The result is an unsatisfactory economic situation for both of them.”
Discover benefits from the large Lufthansa group
Discover has one advantage: the airline can access the Lufthansa network. This is important to fill the long-haul planes. With Discover, the other airlines in the group bring the passengers to Frankfurt and in the future also to Munich, where they then board the Discover jets.
Condor, on the other hand, has no feeders of its own. It would also make no economic sense to build them. The holiday airline also uses the Lufthansa network, but had to fight for it. In 2021, Lufthansa terminated an agreement that regulated certain quotas at fixed prices – with a view to the plans with Discover.
The Federal Cartel Office had to intervene and decided that this step was anti-competitive. Condor can therefore continue to rely on Lufthansa feeders for the time being. However, the group has lodged a complaint against the cartel office decision with the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. A decision in this process is still pending.
Discover also has another advantage: the holiday airline can access Lufthansa’s partner network. Recently, the company had a so-called codeshare agreement with United Airlines completed. That means: On many routes, the flights have a flight number from both Discover and United. For example, if you fly to the USA with Discover, you have better options for switching to flights from United Airlines.
A few things are also changing in the cabin © Lufthansa
Discover is thus closely tied to the large joint venture between Lufthansa, United Airlines and Air Canada, although it is not an official member there. Customers can go to so many more destinations with one booking. And they participate in United’s miles program.
Condor also has a network of partner airlines. These include, for example, Air Belgium, Sundair or Bulgaria. The company can also offer numerous flights from smaller airports such as Stuttgart, Bremen, Dresden or Nuremberg. But this network can’t keep up with its competitor Discover.
The advantage of Condor: The team has much longer and greater experience in selling seat contingents to tour operators. This is important because a large proportion of the tickets are sold through this channel. Discover boss Bauer also emphasizes that they now have “great partners in the travel industry”. But many tour operators want an alternative to the big and powerful Lufthansa. That plays into Condor’s hands.
The extent to which Discover will actually displace a Condor from certain routes is an open question. With new aircraft and a new cabin, the company is considered to be quite competitive. In addition, the management has adjusted its own strategy in response to the Lufthansa rival. Condor now also flies to destinations such as New York, which are in greater demand from business customers.
Discover boss Bernd Bauer © Lufthansa
Discover, on the other hand, relies on additional amenities. Premium customers should have access to the Lufthansa lounges. And work is also being done on the topic of catering on board, said Bauer. The service is gradually being improved. For example, in the beginning, passengers in economy class had to buy the blanket for the night. These are now available for free.
For Discover and Condor, however, the market environment is likely to become much more difficult by then. “We’re seeing the peak at the moment,” said Bauer. Demand in tourist transport will flatten out, at the same time more capacity would come onto the market.
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