Lufthansa Group has continued to argue against its obligation to provide feeding flights at 
Frankfurt Airport
(FRA) for flights to New York, highlighting that Condor has continued expanding its German domestic and European network.
No basis for continuing feeder flights
In its monthly policy briefing newsletter, Lufthansa Group
pointed out that Condor has been adding domestic flights in Germany and European flights to its network. According to the group, while this is welcoming news for passengers, it was an important development in terms of its legal dispute with Condor.
On January 17, the latter carrier announced that, starting in March, it will add flights from its Frankfurt Airport (FRA) hub to nine European cities, which includes flights to five Lufthansa Group hubs.
Photo: Great Circle Map
In addition to these flights, Lufthansa Group argued that Condor, much like the group itself, can use the Deutsche Bahn (DB) or other rail operators within Europe to provide feeder services to Frankfurt.
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Lack of alternatives
According to the group, Condor’s
counterargument is that there are no alternative feeder flights in Frankfurt, which meant that 
Lufthansa
has been forced to continue the special prorate agreement (SPA), which dated back to when Condor was still part of Lufthansa Group.
“Condor is now providing the opposite evidence itself. 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.”
Photo: Philip Lange | Shutterstock
The company cited Condor’s January 17 statement, which said that the airline is “creating more alternatives for customers,” with Lufthansa Group pointing out that this disproves Condor’s claims that it has no alternatives to carrying more passengers into its Frankfurt hub to operate international flights.
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Europe’s involvement
On January 15, the European Commission (EC) announced that it had sent a ‘Supplementary Statement of Objections’ to Lufthansa, which indicated to the airline that it would have to reinstate Condor’s access to Lufthansa’s feed traffic to/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 to/from several European Economic Area (EEA) airports by the A++ transatlantic joint venture (JV) between Lufthansa,
United Airlines
and
Air Canada
.”
Air CanadaWhen the EC investigated Lufthansa’s planned acquisition of ITA Airways, the Commission considered the JV trio, the Italian carrier, and All Nippon Airways
a single entity.
Nevertheless, the Commission’s recent statement pointed out that the most recent statement of objections includes preliminary conclusions that the JV restricts competition on flights between Frankfurt and New York.
According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning tool, during the peak summer season in June, six airlines should offer flights on routes connecting the two cities: Condor, 
Delta Air Lines
, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and United Airlines, including itineraries to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
(JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport
(EWR).
Singapore Airlinesoperates a fifth freedom flight from Singapore Changi Airport
(SIN) to New York-JFK via Frankfurt.
“To ensure the effectiveness of any final decision following the full investigation into the A++ transatlantic JV, today’s Supplementary Statement of Objections considers that Lufthansa should reinstate the SPA-based arrangements for the provision of feed traffic to Condor to and from Frankfurt airport the two airlines agreed upon in June 2024.”
In its policy briefing, Lufthansa Group noted that the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf, OLG) and the German Federal Court of Justice (Der Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) ruled in favor of Lufthansa, with the group concluding that it had no obligation to continue the SPA.
Related
Germany Orders Lufthansa To Maintain Condor Flight Co-Operation
The airline says it is currently reviewing the decision, which gives Condor more rights than before.
