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New design for all aircraft: Condor is going for ring fliers
New look for the holiday airline: In autumn the first new color Airbus A330-900 will join the Condor fleet.
© Hervé Gousse/Airbus
New investor, new long-haul fleet, new destinations: The holiday airline Condor wants to take off and set an example with eye-catching stripes on the aircraft.
The first press photos, consisting of photomontages, seem like a belated April Fool’s joke: Condor aircraft, whose fuselages are not painted white, contrary to the trend, but have vertical stripes in different colors, from the nose to the tailplane.
But the first brightly painted Airbus A321 in the new design took off on Tuesday and is therefore in daily use. The aircraft with yellow stripes and the registration D-AIAD took off from Frankfurt at noon for the flight to Lanzarote.
“Condor is vacation. And vacation is striped,” is the motto of the new brand identity. “In the future, Condor will wear stripes in five colors. Inspired by parasols, bath towels and beach loungers, Condor is developing into an unmistakable and unique holiday airline,” says a press release.
Gone are sayings like “We love to fly”, the confusion of different aircraft paint finishes and logos on the vertical stabilizer. Condor Flugdienst GmbH, which was founded in 1955, would like to leave the turbulent times of the past three years behind: the bankruptcy of the parent company Thomas Cook in autumn 2019, the departure of the Polish investor PGL, the state aid and KfW loans in the millions and the downsizing with layoffs during Corona crisis.
Restart by attestor
With the entry of the investor Attestor almost a year ago, there is sufficient capital available to finally tackle the modernization of the long-haul fleet. Condor transports passengers to long-haul destinations from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia with 13 Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, some of which have been in service for 29.5 years.
In the fall, the first of 16 Airbus A330neos on order will be integrated into the fleet. First images of the latest generation long-range aircraft being built in Toulouse can already be seen on Twitter.
The new finishes are reminiscent of the pattern of a coral snake and the striped packaging of the lozenge manufacturer Fisherman’s Friend. However, the main colors yellow and blue of the new corporate identity still show a certain proximity to Lufthansa, which had said goodbye to its melon-yellow crane symbol, also known as “fried egg”, in 2018.
Not the logo, but the ringed body becomes the brand
In addition to the striped look in the colors yellow, red, blue, green and beige, Condor is also introducing gray as a contrasting colour. The appearance is so dominant and unmistakable that the Condor lettering is only in lower case and greatly reduced in the lower part of the fuselage between the cockpit and wing attachment.
Condor’s first newly painted Airbus A321, the “Sunshine” plane with the registration D-DIAD.
© Condor
The Condor signet, the symbolized condor in a circle, is also emblazoned in a reduced and slightly modified manner on the tail unit. The once historic logo design goes back to the designer Otl Aicher, co-founder of the Ulm School of Design.
With the repaints, which also affect the Airbus A320 and Boeing 757 fleets, but not the older Boeing 767s, the interior of the aircraft will also be overhauled. Condor boss Ralf Teckentrup promises new uniforms for the crews, from scarves to ties, and even new on-board cutlery through to a redesign of the homepage.
Condor has the “rebranding” cost two million euros, which was created under the direction of Remo Masala from the Berlin agency Vision Alphabet. “Our new trademark are stripes, our logo stands for our origin and the colors for diversity,” said Teckentrup at the presentation.
The new design should polarize. But one thing is already certain: Condor is mixing up the dreary monotony of aircraft and providing more color in the sky and at airports. Their planes will be more recognizable from afar than any other airline’s jets.
Holiday plane Condor: Jet off into the sun
18 images
Five more aircraft are to be repainted in the next few weeks, so that six aircraft in the new design will be on the road in the summer flight schedule. The first new Airbus A330neo, which has already been painted in Toulouse these days, can take off from autumn.
The striped planes are still an exception, but Condor has the courage to declare their special liveries the standard.
Also read:
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– Spectacular approach scenes: When the holiday planes land on the island of Skiathos