In the dispute about the feeder flights canceled by Lufthansa for the former subsidiary Condor, a rethinking of the crane is looming. According to a spokesman, they are considering "to let the contract with Condor continue to run for the time being". However, this is not done entirely voluntarily, because according to Reuters the EU Commission should exert corresponding pressure.

The news magazine "Der Spiegel" writes that EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is said to have intervened with the German government. She is said to have expressed her displeasure with the behavior of Lufthansa, which is supported by the state with around nine billion euros. The commission member is also said to have seen it negatively that two companies held in the air with taxpayers money are trying to displace each other, whereby Lufthansa is said to have significantly more market power here.

Lufthansa does not want to have known anything about Condor's imbalance

A spokesman for the crane told Reuters: "We were not aware that Condor was so bad". This statement is almost hypocritical, because until a few days ago Lufthansa argued that they wanted to better utilize their own flights, especially Eurowings Discover. Numerous routes that will be offered under the new brand are congruent with the existing Condor offer. It was only recently announced that Condor looking for fresh money again is because the state aid is almost used up.

The holiday airline brought a "blue letter" from the former parent company Complaint to the Federal Cartel Office and also moves in against the approval of Lufthansa state aid before the General Court of the European Union. If the crane does not give in or if the authorities decide in good time, the termination would take effect in June 2021, i.e. immediately before the holiday season. Condor does not have its own feeder flights and, according to its own statements, is dependent on Lufthansa’s feeder services in order to be able to feed the long haul. I agree Eurowings Discover is pushing into this tourist segment on almost identical routes.

Germany threatens infringement proceedings

"Der Spiegel" writes that Vestager is even considering infringement proceedings against Germany if it does not slow down Lufthansa. But the crane is blooming more trouble, because the EU Commissioner criticized in a video conference with Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU) and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) the fact that Germany's largest airline in February 2021 around 25 million euros in interest to bondholders paid off. Contrary to the approval of state aid, no information was given to the EU Commission.

This is of the opinion that due to the existing state aid rules, such payments to investors and / or shareholders may not be made for the duration of the state aid. The German ministries and Lufthansa did not want to comment on this accusation by the EU competition authority for the time being. In any case, Brussels is of the opinion that Lufthansa should have delayed payment of the interest.