LOT Polish Airlines/Condor: Europe's 14th ranked airline group
LOT Polish Airlines' owner, Polish Aviation Group, is to buy the German leisure airline Condor Flugdienst, subject to competition authority approval. The purchase will create a new airline group of almost 20 million passengers, ranking as Europe's 14th largest by passenger numbers, just behind Alitalia (based on 2019 data).
Investment by LOT will enable Condor to repay a bridging loan of EUR380 million from the German government. The loan was provided after Condor's former owner Thomas Cook Group went into liquidation in Sep-2019.
LOT plans to develop the Condor brand, which is decades old and retains historic ties with Lufthansa, once a shareholder in the airline before Thomas Cook became the sole owner in 2006. Condor has codeshare agreements with Lufthansa and participates in Lufthansa's 'Miles & More' loyalty scheme.
The two networks are geographically complementary and the deal should build on LOT's strengths. As with all acquisitions, execution will be crucial. It is certainly a strong signal of intent from LOT, only a few years after emerging from its own restructuring.
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