Lufthansa and Condor could reunite the cranes

Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr has said that it has made a non-binding offer for the German leisure airline Condor Flugdienst, a Thomas Cook Group subsidiary. Lufthansa may also be interested in buying all Thomas Cook Group airlines, which include other subsidiaries in the UK, Scandinavia and Spain's Balearic Islands.

Condor, the biggest Thomas Cook Group airline and the only one with its own brand name, has a long history of ties to Lufthansa (including the historic crane logos). The acquisition of Condor, the number five airline in Germany, would further extend Lufthansa Group's leading seat share.

For Thomas Cook Group the continuity of airline capacity supply to its tour operator business is important, but airline ownership is no longer a strategic imperative. Its airlines have been growing their seat-only and third-party tour operator sales for some years. Moreover, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium was sold to Brussels Airlines in 2017.

CAPA analysis indicates that Condor's scheduled summer network (which is far bigger than its winter operation) has a significant level of overlap with Lufthansa and Eurowings. Condor's strong leisure focus suggests that it would be plugged into Lufthansa's Eurowings division, although it is still digesting parts of airberlin, and other hurdles could include competition concerns.