German leisure airline Condor is increasingly relying on wet leasing in its current 2026 summer flight schedule to cope with high demand during the peak travel season. As the company confirmed, numerous holiday routes will not be operated with its own aircraft and crews, but rather outsourced to external partner companies.
By leasing external capacity, including personnel, the leisure airline is attempting to compensate for bottlenecks in its own fleet and maintain its ambitious flight schedule. The affected routes will primarily utilize short- and medium-haul Airbus A320 aircraft.
The distribution of external service providers is strategically managed across several major German airports. From its hub in Munich, the Bulgarian charter airline European Air Charter operates flights on a total of 14 holiday routes on behalf of Condor. At Hamburg Airport, the company utilizes the capacity of Lithuanian Heston Airlines, which operates several rotations there. Estonian Marabu Airlines, which already cooperates closely with the Condor Group and serves a double-digit number of destinations, has been contracted to handle the extensive flight schedule from Düsseldorf.
In addition to the classic warm-water routes in the Mediterranean, the outsourcing also affects the European city-route segment. Here, Condor is continuing its existing cooperation with established regional airlines. The Swiss airline Helvetic Airways and the German airline German Airways will continue to operate scheduled flights to various European metropolises on behalf of Condor. These partners typically use smaller regional jets such as the Embraer E-Jets family, which are suitable for routes with lower passenger volumes.
This extensive use of wet-lease partners in the aviation industry is a response to ongoing delivery delays of new aircraft and engine problems at major manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, which are also affecting Condor's fleet modernization efforts. These collaborations ensure operational flexibility for the airline and protect passengers from last-minute flight cancellations. However, for passengers, the agreement means that service, cabin amenities, and the appearance of the crew on board may differ from the usual Condor standard.