Condor takes legal action for Lufthansa

The holiday airline Condor is taking legal action at EU level against conditions relating to state aid for rival Lufthansa. A Condor spokeswoman said that the court of the European Union in Luxembourg was called "in order to obtain a review of Lufthansa's subsidy requirements through this formal step." "Abuse of the dominant position through the termination of existing commercial agreements" must be ruled out in the aid requirements of the EU Commission for Lufthansa, "in order to ensure fair competition". Lufthansa did not want to comment on this. The two airlines supported by the state in the crisis are currently in a clinch over a long-term contract for feeder flights, which Lufthansa terminated last autumn for June 2021. The holiday airline has been able to sell Lufthansa feeder flights together with its own connections for a non-stop holiday trip. Condor has therefore already complained to the Federal Cartel Office about Lufthansa for abuse of a dominant market position. A Lufthansa spokesman said last week about the termination of the contract with Condor: "It would be irresponsible to neglect the capacity utilization of our aircraft and thereby endanger further jobs at Lufthansa." The background to the dispute is the airlines' struggle to recover from the severe corona crisis. Lufthansa wants to expand its vacation flight business because demand will rise faster here than with business trips. Lufthansa may not need all of the nine billion euros in state aid in the fight against the Corona crisis, as CEO Carsten Spohr said in January. At the time, only three billion euros had been called. The state bank KfW is meanwhile helping Condor with a 550 million euro loan through the corona crisis. The aid for Lufthansa and Condor is also a thorn in the side of Irish rival Ryanair. The low-cost airline is taking legal action at EU level against the corona aid for airlines.