Condor has unveiled its next generation A330-900neo business class seat, which will launch later this year. The seat is indisputably better than Lufthansa’s current seat, which positions Condor to capture Lufthansa market share in a way that was not possible before. Is this Condor’s big moment?
Condor Unveiled A Beautiful New Business Class Seat On A330-900neo
Condor has long been Germany’s “other” airline. While its logo is very similar to that of Lufthansa’s and was once partially owned by the German flag carrier, it is no longer purely the leisure-oriented carrier that transports sun seekers to popular beach destinations or tourists hotspots.
Instead, you can now fly Condor between Frankfurt and major cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle (in addition to secondary cities like Las Vegas or Phoenix). In fact, the carrier has beefed up its 2022 USA transatlantic schedule with a number of routes, most of them routes which Lufthansa also operates:
- Anchorage (ANC) — 3x weekly
- Baltimore (BWI) — 3x weekly
- Boston (BOS) — 3x weekly
- Fairbanks (FAI) — 1x weekly
- Las Vegas (LAS) — 3x weekly
- Los Angeles (LAX) — 3x weekly
- Minneapolis (MSP) — 3x weekly
- New York (JFK) — 5x weekly
- Phoenix (PHX) — 3x weekly
- Portland (PDX) — 3x weekly
- San Francisco (SFO) — 3x weekly
- Seattle (SEA) — daily
Equally important, the carrier has unveiled a new business class onboard its soon-to-be-delivered Airbus A330-900neo jets, which represent a better seat than Lufthansa in terms of privacy and comfort.
(Lufthansa has teased a new business class for five years, but delivery delays from Boeing have continued to delay the new product)
Condor will take delivery of 16 A330-900neo jets, each with a configuration of 310 seats and three cabins of service. Business class will include:
- 30 seats
- Direct aisle access at every seat
- 6 feet, 6 inches of legroom in fully lie-flat mode
- 17.3-inch 4K monitor
Additionally, Condor will offer high speed wi-fi throughout the aircraft. A330-900neo deliveries will begin this autumn and continue through the end of 2023.
Click here for a new VR tour of the Condor Airbus A330-900neo.
Is This Condor’s Big Moment To Compete With Lufthansa?
It is hardly speculatory to posit that Lufthansa does not like these latest developments from Condor. The USA routes have traditionally been bread and butter routes for Lufthansa and the addition of Condor in many key markets puts downward pressure on pricing.
But it’s about more than pricing alone: it’s the fact that Condor realistically will soon offer a better product than Lufthansa in business class. While I’m not a huge critic of Lufthansa’s business class seat, I find it detrimental that I must choose either aisle access or a window seat: I cannot have both. I know I’m not the only one.
Consumers should relish this time, which should give consumers more access to more seats, more choice, and cheaper prices. It’s also a wake-up call that Lufthansa is not the only game in town.
Let me put it this way: nothing will ever beat Lufthansa First Class in my book, but I’ll certainly be trying Condor business on the A330-900neo before I fly longhaul business class on any Lufthansa jet.
CONCLUSION
Condor is introducing a new business class seat that gives its a competitive advantage to Lufthansa, at least for now. That’s an amazing evolution for a carrier that was exclusively focused on leisure-destinations for so many years. I look forward to flying on Condor’s new A300-900neos, set to take the skies later in 2022.
Whoa. That looks truly amazing, Not game changing. Well, other than versus what Lufthansa offers, but solid as heck. My only issue is frequency. I would like to see more than 3x a week to Baltimore as an example, which is my option vs Dulles on LH. But if the one/way date works I will gladly sell out for a cheaper fare on this product.
Condor is probably the only large airline left in Europe that could realistically integrate with oneworld, which is sorely lacking connectivity on the continent. Can’t help but wonder if anyone at American Airlines is looking into this?
Condor still needs connectivity with Lufthansa to make their network work. There is no way that Condor would endanger that by working with American.
Isn’t the connectivity with LH mandated by German law/ordinance? If that’s true then working with AA wouldn’t hurt anything because LH would be legally required to continue supporting DE. Of course, they could probably go to court and try to get that law overturned, which may be what you’re getting at.
Yes – Lufthansa wanted to stop working with Condor, but the German government said no.
Condor doesnt really need anything from American. It fills up flights on its own on the strength of the German market, and isnt a natural fit with American anyway. Does American need Condor? Maybe? Kind of? Condor as of now only flies into Frankfurt, and the majority of the passengers connect onwards to other destinations in Europe. On Lufthansa. American, with its flights to Frankfurt from Dallas and Charlotte, probably wouldnt connect to Lufthansa operated flights or to the Condor flights that operate from Frankfurt. The Condor flights from Frankfurt are mostly the US flights OR flights to holiday destinations that all leave frankfurt early in the morning to cater to German tourists going to beaches in the Mediterranean. I dont see how it would be a good fit, and even though Lufthansa has to work with Condor, dont see how American fits in with it. Condor can fill up its flights to the US on its own, and American wouldnt really get anything out of this.
Does this mean that Condor is a 6 or 7- star Skytrax airline?
+1
I flew Condor Business Class in 2016 from Baltimore to Frankfurt and connected to Barcelona on Lufthansa. It was great. They offered reasonable one way pricing, which was what I needed (none of the main carriers such as UA or LH do) and I think I paid $1200 one way in business, which was good. Despite being about 3 hours late, I made my connection at Frankfurt. Service on board was great, and I was surprised by how good the food was – and bountiful!! The seats were not great then, but that was expected and I felt like I got great value for money. I’d consider them again, especially with this product.
That said, yes, their new product is way better than Lufthansa’s current business class. But realistically, there is no way they will compete with Lufthansa’s bread and butter business passengers, all of whom need at least daily year-round service to business markets. Sub-daily, seasonal service with no frequent flyer program and no corporate contract simply will not cut it. That said, this will appeal to value conscious leisure travelers, and I think it’s great!
Interesting to me that they fly FRA to both ANC and FAI
I never would have thought there would be enough demand for that. Particularly FAI