On January 17, the carrier announced that starting in March, it will add flights from its Frankfurt Airport (FRA) hub to nine European cities, including routes to five Lufthansa Group hubs.
In addition to these flights, Lufthansa Group argued that Condor could utilize Deutsche Bahn (DB) or other rail operators within Europe for feeder services to Frankfurt.
According to the group, Condor's counterargument is that there are no alternative feeder flights in Frankfurt, necessitating the continuation of a special prorate agreement (SPA) dating back to when Condor was part of Lufthansa Group.
“Condor is now providing the opposite evidence itself," said a statement from Lufthansa. "In addition to new connections to Rome, Milan, Prague, and Paris, the airline will be flying twice a day from Frankfurt to Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich from March. ”
The company cited Condor’s January 17 statement which noted that the airline is “creating more alternatives for customers,” arguing that this disproves Condor’s claims of having no alternatives for carrying more passengers into its Frankfurt hub for international flights.
On January 15, the European Commission (EC) announced sending a ‘Supplementary Statement of Objections’ to Lufthansa requiring it to reinstate Condor’s access to feed traffic at/from Frankfurt.
“This is a step in the Commission's procedure related to interim measures in the context of its broader investigation into a potential restriction of competition on transatlantic routes at/from several European Economic Area (EEA) airports by the A++ transatlantic joint venture (JV) between Lufthansa, United Airlines and Air Canada. ”
The EC's investigation into Lufthansa’s planned acquisition of ITA Airways had considered multiple entities as one due diligence measure. However, recent statements indicated preliminary conclusions that said JV restricts competition on flights between Frankfurt and New York.
Data from aviation analytics company Cirium's Diio Mi airline planning tool shows six airlines expected offering routes connecting these cities during peak summer season: Condor; Delta Air Lines; Lufthansa; Singapore Airlines; United Airlines; including itineraries reaching New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK); Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). Singapore Airlines operates a fifth freedom flight via FRA en route SIN-JFK .
"To ensure effectiveness following full investigation into A++ JV," today's Supplementary Statement considers reinstating SPA-based arrangements feeding traffic agreed upon June '24," EC said .
Lufthansa Group noted Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf OLG German Federal Court Justice Der Bundesgerichtshof BGH ruled favoring them concluding no obligation continuing SPA .
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