Lufthansa wants to take over German holiday airline Condor from the Thomas Cook Group

Lufthansa is preparing an offer for German holiday airline Condor, said Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr during the annual shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday morning. The Thomas Cook Group, to which Condor now belongs, recently put the aviation division for sale, but it is not sure whether it would accept to divest only the Condor part of the business.

Condor focuses on holiday flights within Europe and to overseas destinations. In that respect, it competes with Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings, which largely does the same. Condor CEO Ralf Teckentrup recently indicated that he was interested in an acquisition by Lufthansa.

A takeover would give Lufthansa an even greater market share in Germany, after a large part of the bankrupt airberlin was incorporated and transferred to its subsidiary Eurowings last year. It is not sure whether the competition authorities in Germany and Europe will allow for such a concentration. Earlier, Lufthansa had said it would stop the organic growth of Eurowings until the airline becomes profitable, thus an eventual growth could come only from acquisitions.

Condor was already 50 percent owned by Lufthansa until 2009, when the shares were acquired by the Thomas Cook Group. Condor has a fleet of 41 aircraft, mostly Boeing 767s.