Lufthansa is no longer obliged to provide special freight services for Condor.
In a significant development for the aviation industry, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf has ruled in favour of Lufthansa, allowing the airline to terminate a long-standing feeder flight agreement with Condor. This decision, which overturns a decision by the Federal Cartel Office from 2022, has far-reaching implications for both airlines and the broader European airline landscape.
The agreement in question, dating back to a time when Condor was part of Lufthansa, allowed Condor customers to book feeder flights with Lufthansa to Frankfurt at favourable conditions, connecting to their long-haul flights with Condor. However, the Federal Cartel Office had previously prohibited Lufthansa from terminating this agreement, citing Lufthansa's dominant market position.
On August 20, 2025, the court ruled in favour of Lufthansa, confirming that the German competition authority's decision forcing Lufthansa to continue the preferential feeder arrangement was illegal. The court confirmed the illegality of the order to continue the preferential conditions for Condor, but did not provide details on what specific procedural errors were made by the Federal Cartel Office.
The termination of the special agreement between Lufthansa and Condor means that Condor no longer receives preferential feeder pricing and has lost the ability to sell one-ticket flights on Lufthansa’s shorter European routes feeding into Frankfurt. This change forces Condor to rapidly restructure its network, pulling heavily feeder-dependent long-haul routes (notably in North America), focusing on routes with strong standalone demand from Frankfurt, and developing its own short-haul feeder flights via partnerships with other airlines.
Lufthansa, on the other hand, will continue to offer feeder flights to Condor, but not at special conditions. The European Commission initially asked Lufthansa to reinstate the agreement temporarily due to competition concerns in transatlantic markets, especially Frankfurt to New York. However, the commission later decided not to pursue the matter further, allowing Lufthansa to proceed with ending the feeder deal.
The ruling is seen as a major setback for Condor as it must build an independent feed network that is smaller and more costly to operate. Lufthansa’s victory is considered a clear legal win, but it highlights challenges in German aviation competition policy and signals a key shift in Europe's airline landscape.
Sources: 1. ntv.de 2. AFP 3. [5] Unspecified sources
[3]: [Unspecified source] [4]: [Unspecified source] [5]: [Unspecified source]
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