Amid continuing signs of air travel’s recovery, Condor Airlines will resume its seasonal nonstop Frankfurt, Germany, service on June 1 from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) after a two-year hiatus.
“Condor’s direct service to Frankfurt is another sign of a rebound in international travel, and we’re confident there will be strong demand this summer on this returning route from MSP,” said Brian Ryks, CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP. “We’re thrilled to welcome more European travelers to the region and to give Minnesotans a new opportunity to visit Germany and beyond.”
Condor’s Frankfurt hub provides connecting service to more than 100 destinations throughout Europe via Condor and a network of airline and rail partners including Lufthansa, SAS, Aegean Airlines, and more.
“Due to the pandemic, travel to Europe from the U.S. was only accessible to a limited extent for the past two summers. As a result, we are seeing an increasing amount of pent-up demand from Americans who are now eager to visit Europe,” said Mathias Friess, Condor’s vice president and area manager, North America. “We are pleased to return to Minneapolis-St. Paul and provide travellers from the Twin Cities with a more affordable way to get to Europe this summer.”
Condor will operate flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays departing MSP at 6:45 p.m. on a Boeing 767-300 aircraft that features three classes of service (Economy, Premium and Business, featuring lie-flat seats, a personal in-seat, premium touch-screen entertainment system, power ports at every seat, and premium menus with complimentary non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages). Passenger demand from the MSP market to Frankfurt (FRA) is approximately 16,000 passengers per year.
Condor’s announcement comes as passenger activity at MSP has been strong, especially through the spring break travel season. In March, MSP recorded nine of the 10 busiest TSA checkpoint days in the past two years during the pandemic, with a peak day of nearly 40,000 passengers. Strong spring break activity was evident at Terminal 2, which set an all-time monthly passenger record in March of more than 526,000 passengers.
Condor’s seasonal service between MSP and FRA will operate from Terminal 2 through Sept. 16.
