Condor majority owner Attestor has founded a new airline in Estonia under the name "Marabu". This is to be launched in Hamburg and Munich – initially in cooperation with Nordica.

In the summer of 2023, around 20 destinations in Egypt, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Portugal and Spain are to be headed for. Since you have to get by without your own AOC at the beginning, Airbus A320neo and crews are rented from Nordica. The Estonian carrier has been looking for flying personnel for the Hamburg and Munich locations for some time. So far, no one wanted to comment on the client, but now Attestor has announced that it will be the new company "Marabu".

Paul Schwaiger, who worked for the sister company Condor for many years, acts as managing director of the new company. He retired on September 1, 2022, at a time when it was hinted that he was headed towards retirement. His successor at the German holiday airline is the former Niki boss Christian Lesjak. At "Marabu" Schwaiger is the managing director. He is assisted by Tony Larsson, who serves as Chief Operating Officer.

Ticket sales are via Condor

"The travel and flight industry is on the up again and we want to use this to offer passengers a comfortable and pleasant flight experience on board our modern fleet to the most popular holiday destinations," says Paul Schwaiger.

Marabu is to be positioned as an independent airline with its own brand identity. Initially, six Airbus A320/A320neo aircraft will be leased from Nordica along with their crews. You are in the approval process in Estonia and want to take over the execution of the flights yourself at a later date. According to Attestor, Nordica has already hired 100 flying employees in Hamburg and Munich.

It is currently assumed that from around summer 2023 it will be possible to gradually switch to in-house operation. The sale of air tickets is to take place on December 14, 2022, among other things www.flymarabu.com be included. They will work together with the sister company Condor in the area of ​​sales, because they will take over ticket sales for Marabu Airlines as a so-called general sales agent.

Vereinigung Cockpit criticizes the plans

The Cockpit Association is critical of the fact that the German company Attestor, as the majority owner of Condor, has founded an airline in Estonia and intends to use it from Germany.

"When the same owner operates the same routes with the same aircraft and uses Condor distribution, many questions are raised. Even if the founding of the AOC by the Condor owner is covered by the entrepreneurial freedom, we have to state that such constructions are suitable for exerting pressure on collective bargaining and working conditions," says VC President Stefan Herth. “As a rule, the purpose of such an undertaking is to undermine working conditions and social standards. The choice of Estonia as the place of registration is a cause for concern. Estonia has developed into a kind of "Panama of aviation" in recent years. As a trade union, we criticize such an approach. We will monitor further developments closely. It must not happen that working conditions are undermined by competition in-house. From the perspective of the Cockpit Association, this is further proof of the need for reform of the regulations of the European labor market. The free movement of services and workers are increasingly being misused as instruments to undermine national social standards”.