Monday, March 8th, 2021
According to protective shield proceedings
Condor needs fresh money again
The vacation airline Condor 2020 was saved with 550 million euros and restructured in a protective shield process. Since the air traffic is still on the ground, millions more will probably be needed.
Around three months after the protective shield proceedings were concluded, the vacation airline Condor, rescued by the state, needs fresh money. With reference to the extended corona lockdown and the hesitant demand for flights, the company confirmed in Frankfurt that it was conducting "constructive exploratory talks" about financial support. It remained unclear whether renewed state aid would also be discussed.
Last year, Condor averted the impending bankruptcy and left the protective shield proceedings on December 1, 2020, in which it was comprehensively restructured. The former subsidiary of the lost travel company Thomas Cook is held in the air by a trust company with a long-term loan from the state-owned KfW bank.
Of the 550 million euros committed in April 2020, 256 million were used to replace a previously existing short-term KfW loan. The protective shield proceedings under administrator Lucas Flöther are said to have cost around 44 million euros, so that in the end around 250 million were left for the Condor as corona aid. An investor should be sought at a later point in time, which could now be preferred.
Headquarters relocated to cheaper property
With a fleet of around 50 aircraft, the company is struggling to resume tourist flights and last year had assumed that Easter business would be brisk, which will now fail. The airline is arguing with the Lufthansa Group over feeder flights to its long-distance flights, the contractual terms of which Lufthansa terminated in November. The Lufthansa Group, which is also supported by the state, wants to push long-haul tourism business itself.
Condor was reconstructed under the protective umbrella and trimmed at lower cost. The number of employees fell by around 700 to 4,200 now. For the rest of them, restructuring collective agreements were concluded with the unions, with financial losses for the employees. The company has relocated its headquarters from Frankfurt Airport to a more affordable property in nearby Neu-Isenburg.
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