After Ryanair and Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings, now the holiday airline Condor has announced that it will cancel flights from Hamburg airport next summer due to excessively increased taxes, with two Greek destinations being among this decision.
In particular, the airline will cut 13% of its flights, while halting its previous growth plans.
In a statement the carrier said: “Due to significantly increased seat costs in Hamburg, Condor is also adjusting its offer for the summer of 2025.” As a result, Condor is completely cancelling connections to Samos and Malaga in Spain from its flight schedule, while frequencies to Kos will be significantly reduced.
“We are not only cancelling capacity in Hamburg, but also our planned growth for the summer of 2025,” said Condor CEO Peter Gerber. This, according to the company, is a logical consequence of the threat of a completely disproportionate fee increase in Hamburg.
Due to the increased costs, the airline is forced to move flights to other locations and raise prices for the remaining flights.
After Ryanair and Eurowings had already announced similar measures, Hamburg Airport CEO Christian Kunsch defended the airport’s increases against the airlines’ arguments.
In a statement to the DPA news agency, Mr Kunsch, who took over as the airport’s chief executive earlier this year, said: “The charges only account for four to six per cent of the airlines’ total costs.” At the same time, the amount of fees for air traffic control, aviation security and the air traffic fee ;exei almost doubled, accounting for about a quarter of total costs.
The increase in charges at Hamburg airport is expected to amount to around ten percent or €2.30 per passenger and will absorb the increased costs for energy and wages.