The German holiday airline Condor has acquired a sister company based in Estonia called Marabu. This was founded by the majority owner Attestor and is cooperating with the state-owned Nordic Aviation Group, at least in the initial phase.

The former Condor sales manager Paul Schwaiger, who has meanwhile been replaced by the former Niki managing director Christian Lesjak, is the managing director of Marabu Airlines. In an interview with FVW, the manager explains, among other things, that Condor and Attestor had decided that fleet growth at the German holiday airline would currently make no sense with regard to the renewal of the long-haul fleet. That is why the decision was made to set up an additional flight operation with Marabu.

Shortly after the project was announced, it was not long before the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit reacted. The latter sharply criticized the plan to “flag out” to Estonia, and the location of the company headquarters for the newly founded company also annoys the employee representatives. In the initial phase, Marabu Airlines will still be active without its own AOC. The flights announced from Hamburg and Munich are to be operated by Nordica. The company had been looking for flying personnel for the two German cities for a long time. Later, all connections will then be operated on by Marabu himself.

In an interview with FVW, Schwaiger denies that Estonia is a low-wage country. Being based in Estonia means lower costs, but it has good universities and is a leader in digitization. The crews would also be recruited mainly in Germany and not in Estonia, according to the Marabu boss.

From a legal point of view, Condor and the new sister company should be separate companies. However, there are still a few connections, as sales and revenue management would be handled by the German airline on behalf of Marabu. According to Schwaiger, this should mean that you can dock onto a functioning sales system right from the start. Details such as hand luggage rules would also be adapted to those of Condor.

In the area of ​​sales, the mix is ​​comparable to that of the sister company. The focus is on individual seat sales as well as fixed contingents and pro rata agreements with tour operators. Initially, from Hamburg and Munich, they want to concentrate on classic holiday destinations that are on short and medium-haul routes.

First you want to start with six machines. Only one Airbus A320neo is said to be operated by Marabu itself. Nordica will operate three Airbus A320s under a wet lease agreement. Two Airbus A321s are also being leased from Heston Airlines. Three machines each are to be stationed in Hamburg and Munich. The collaboration with Heston is initially limited to the summer of 2023.