Condor, the German company with stripes planes, lands in Milan and Rome. And try to disturb ita-luphansa

After Lufthansa Another German airline He points a good part of his cards – and his planes – on Italy. And try to ruin the plans of the giant recently entered Ita Airways especially on intercontinental connections, those where the carriers are useful. Spring 2025 sees in the skies of our country more and more aircraft than Condor, historical reality of tourist transportwith the livery that does not go unnoticed thanks to Vertical color stripes created to remember umbrellas and beach towels. « Our mission is to connect Italy to the rest of the world, » he explains during an interview with the Courier Peter Gerber, CEO of Condor and thirty years of experience in the Lufthansa group, in which he also held the position of CEO of Brussels Airlines.

The numbers

« We know that your country already has a good connectivity, but now also Condor is trying to do something more, offering a real alternative to what Italy can offer, the Lufthansa or Air France group ». In 2024 the German Aviolinea transported 8.5 million passengers (with an average filling rate of 89.5%flights) and recorded more than 2 billion euros in revenues. In 2025, according to Cirium, he put about half a millions of seats between Italy and Germany for sale. 5,500 work in the company – « But they will go up to 6 thousand in the coming months », says Gerber – and the fleet counts 59 aircraft, « but we will soon exceed 60 ». « In 2025 we aim for 10 million travelers transported, » anticipates the CEO. Who does not spare stoccatine in Lufthansa.

The first question is obvious: who makes you ask to invest in Italy, a market dominated by low cost and where Lufthansa is investing in ita?
«We want to offer our customers a chance. It is also a matter of competition, and we believe that in the end it is the customer who decides: if he has a choice, let’s let him choose and then let’s see how it goes ».

But it’s not easy …
“We know. In some cases we would have liked to do more, but in the current situation, with dominant players like Ita – and above all Ita connected to the Lufthansa group – will not be easy for us. But we try the same ».

Why should you choose?
“Our planes are new. Among those for intercontinental flights the oldest is only 2 and a half years old. And our product in Business class is considered one of the best on the German market – more modern and more comfortable than, for example, to the Lufthansa one, which is rather dated ».

At what point is your network of connections?
«Today we serve more than 100 destinations in the world, with a very extensive intercontinental network, but also an interesting continental network. There are not only the classic summer tourist routes, but more and more often flights to cities, useful for both short trips and for connections with long flights. We fly to Canada, USA, Central America, Africa, Asia (Bangkok and Phuket), and classic destinations such as Mauritius ».

From Italy, however, to go to the United States, you will still have to stop in Frankfurt.
« With the new » food « system of flights via Frankfurt – that we can now manage independently, without depending on the Lufthansa group -, we can guarantee more efficient connections ».

In Lufthansa, the antitrust made to bring passengers to your intercontinental flights. In recent times things have changed.
« We no longer have what we called » Special Pro-Ageement « . What is still in force is the interlinea agreement with registered luggage, passenger reproduction and everything else. Now we receive about 20% of what we received before. We cover the rest now with our single corridor planes and those of partners such as the Polish Lot ».

In Italy you land in the big cities.
«In addition to the already operational tourist routes, such as Olbia and Lamezia Terme, we added Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino. We would have liked to do more, but there were no other slots. Then we also fly to Palermo via Roma. Here too, the limitations in the slots prevent us with further expansions, but we are satisfied with the positive response of the Sicilian capital ».

Why Malpensa and not linate?
«Because we have not obtained slots in Linate (the take -off and landing rights, editor’s note) from the Italian wedding. If we had obtained them at the Milanese City Airport we could have designed a different network of connections ».

Where would you flew by Linate?
«Obviously the Linate-French connection would have been interesting. And then we could have thought of other German cities such as Hamburg, Düsseldorf or Berlin ».

Where do you look in the rest of Italy?
« In Florence, but we did not get slots, and to Venice. »

The European skies are in motion: the much desired consolidation has come to life. Will this also concern Condor?
« At the moment there is nothing. But in a few years who knows ».

Why is the German market so slow to recover and recover pre-plays?
«The first cause I think are the costs in German airports. Those for safety have almost doubled. Those for the control of air traffic too. The aviation tax has risen by over 30%. The result is a fairly toxic mix. The second problem is Lufthansa who has a monopoly in many parts and has removed a lot of offer. With the increase in operating costs it is something that I would have done to do profits too, which they do very well ».

All eyes are on the transatlantic market after the first weeks of the second Trump administration. Several companies now talk about question down and there is a little concern. What do you see in reservations?
«I say it with caution, but I would not define the weak question, if anything softer than last year. We must also remind us that 2024 was record for the vectors. For now I can say that it is not a catastrophe. And there are also new implications ».

For example?
«The Canadians who no longer fly in the US go to the Caribbean or in Europe. And we see that the question towards Canada is strong in both directions ».

Compared to the past years there is a larger focus on the Premium segment. How come?
« Because we heard that there was still room for growing. And for now, I think we were right ».