German carrier Condor will undertake a much-needed overhaul of its long-haul fleet with plans to add 16 A330neos.
Condor has signed an agreement with Airbus to buy seven A330-900neos and will lease nine more to replace its fleet of aging Boeing 767s. The average age of the Boeings is 25.8 years, according to planespotters.net.
The Frankfurt-based charter operator becomes the German launch customer for the A330neo and will operate the A330neo on its international long-haul network to the Americas, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia.
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Details of the deal, which comes after the European Commission gave the green light to a German government aid package worth €525.3m, were not released.
The aid package provides €204.1 million in compensation for damages suffered as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and €321.2 million of restructuring support to enable Condor’s return to viability.
The charter airline will begin operating the new plane from Autumn 2022 and cited fuel consumption of 2.1 litres per passenger per 100kms as one of its key advantages.
“With this value, we are the front-runner in Germany and, as the most popular leisure airline, we will consistently continue to interweave the themes of sustainability and holidays,’’ said Condor chief executive Ralf Teckentrup.
The German carrier is promising “the highest levels of comfort in a brand new business class, premium economy class and economy class”
The fleet replacement is due to be complete by mid-2024.
The A330neo boasts improved wing design and Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines incorporating the latest technology and capable of operating on Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).
It offers up to 25 percent lower fuel burn and CO2 emissions than previous generation competitors.
Separately, US carrier Skywest announced it would buy and operate 16 Embraer E175s under a multi-year contract with Delta Air Lines.
The new aircraft, expected to enter service from the first half of 2022, are expected to replace CRJ9000s currently used in the Delta contract and will be bought directly from Embraer.
“We are pleased to continue to strengthen our Delta agreement with these new, dual-class aircraft,” said SkyWest CEO Chip Childs. “The E175 continues to serve our partners and passengers well as we help our partners work toward full domestic recovery.”
SkyWest is the biggest owner/operator of E175s in the world.
