Condor loses court ruling over Lufthansa feeder flights. It may be time to cut the ties.

Condor Flugdienst's lobbying campaign against Lufthansa has failed to bring about the result that it sought. The final frayed thread in ties between the two airlines that go back 70 years may now have snapped.

A 20-Aug-2025 high court ruling in Duesseldorf upheld Lufthansa's terminating of a long term agreement that had given favourable rates to short/medium haul passengers transferring onto Condor's long haul network.

After Lufthansa ended the agreement in Oct-2024, the German leisure airline cut some long haul routes that it says were no longer viable. Condor's argument that its much larger competitor (and one-time shareholder) was abusing its dominant position in the market has not been successful.

There have been previous twists and turns in this story, and a further twist could still change the decision once more, but for now it seems that Lufthansa cannot be forced to reinstate the SPA once more.

However, Condor is currently pursuing strong capacity growth, upgrading its fleet and contemplating a doubling of its aircraft numbers. Cutting the ties may be good for it in the long run.