Condor will renew their single-aisle fleet with 41 Pratt & Whitney GTF powered Airbus A320neo Family aircraft via lease and direct purchase. Today’s announcment follows the airline’s previous decision to renew their long-haul fleet with Airbus A330neos.
On Monday (July 25, 2022) Airbus announced that German leisure carrier Condor has selected the Airbus A320neo Family to renew their single-aisle fleet, following an earlier decision to renew their long-haul fleet with state-of-the-art Airbus A330neos. Condor will acquire 41 A320neo Family aircraft via lease or direct purchase, and they will be powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines . The airline's 41 aircraft will include 13 A320neos and 28 A321neos, and will be delivered from 2024. By operating the A320neo Family aircraft and A330neos in tandem, Condor will benefit from the commonality in economics both aircraft Families offer.
In Monday’s announcment, Airbus’ Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International, Christian Scherer, said,
“Following Condor’s earlier decision to order the A330neo for its long-haul network, we are double grateful the airline has now also selected the Airbus A320neo Family to modernise its single-aisle-fleet following a thorough evaluation process. We are proud of such a strong vote of confidence and welcome Condor as a future all-Airbus operator.”
Also commenting on the Airline’s A320neo Family selection, Condor’s CEO, Ralf Teckentrup, added,
“After we will have replaced our entire long-haul fleet with state-of-the-art 2-litre* aircraft by the beginning of 2024, it is the logical next step for us to modernize our short and medium-haul fleet as well. With our new A320neo and A321neo aircraft, we are consistently developing our fleet and ourselves as a company, and also taking care of our own aspiration to enable responsible and at the same time comfortable travel with significantly reduced CO2 emissions, significantly lower fuel consumption and less noise.
“With our new A320neo and A321neo aircraft, we are consistently developing our fleet and ourselves as a company, and also taking care of our own ambition to enable responsible and at the same time comfortable travel with significantly reduced carbon emissions, lower fuel consumption and less noise. With Pratt & Whitney’s leadership in efficiency and sustainability, the GTF engine was the clear choice to modernize our fleet.”
Pratt & Whitney’s GTF engines deliver industry-leading sustainability benefits, mature dispatch reliability and world-class operating costs. The engines for the A320neo Family deliver a reduction in fuel consumption and carbon emissions of 16-20 percent, as well a 75% reduction in noise footprint and a 50% reduction in NOx emissions below the ICAO CAEP/6 regulation.
In a separate announcment on Condor's A320neo Family order, Pratt & Whitney's President of Commercial Engines, Rick Deurloo, said,
“Condor has flown many dependable Pratt & Whitney engines over the past six decades. They now add more game-changing aircraft with the GTF-powered A320neo family. With fuel prices and environmental concerns on the rise, GTF engines’ dramatically lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions will help Condor lower its operating costs and shrink its environmental footprint.”
As of June 30, 2022, the Airbus A320neo Family had won over 8,100 orders from more than 130 customers worldwide. With latest generation engines, advanced Sharklets and improved aerodynamics, the A320neo Family models reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions by up to 20 percent compared to previous generation competitor aircraft, while delivering a 50 percent noise footprint reduction. Since entry into service in 2016, the A320neo Family has contributed 15 million tons of CO2 savings.
Founded in 1956, Condor Flugdienst GmbH is Germany’s favorite leisure airline and serves over nine million guests annually to 90 destinations in Europe, Africa and America from nine German gateways, Zurich and Vienna. The German leisure carrier has a fleet of over 50 aircraft which are meticulously maintained to the highest safety standards by their wholly-owned subsidiary Condor Technik with facilities in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. Starting in Fall 2022, Condor will become the German launch customer for the Airbus A330neo.
Source(s): Airbus, Condor
Editor's Notes: This article was updated on July 25, 2022 at 9:48 AM EDT to include additional information and quotes from Pratt & Whitney.
* 2-litre aircraft: The Airbus A330neo is the world's first aircraft certified for a regulatory reduction in CO2 emissions that won't apply until 2021, consuming only 2.1 litres per passenger per 100 kilometers.