VANCOUVER — Condor Airlines may be best known as the number-one leisure airline in Germany, but the brand has its sights firmly set on the Canadian market.

“We’ve been adding a little bit of capacity to Canada every year,” said Mikko Turtiainen, Director of Sales, The Americas. Travelweek spoke to Turtiainen in Vancouver, where he was meeting with media and the social team at YVR to increase local awareness of the brand.

“This was a strategic visit to Vancouver,” he said. “This is a really important route and has a lot of growth opportunity for Condor.”

For summer 2026 the airline offers direct daily flights to its Frankfurt hub from Vancouver and Toronto, with four flights weekly from Calgary. Toronto service is also offered three times weekly in the winter season.

From Frankfurt, passengers can connect to 13 European destinations through same-terminal Condor-to-Condor connections. That includes four new cities for 2026: Barcelona, Budapest, London (LGW) and Venice.

“The 13 cities that we’ve chosen in Europe are some of the most interesting, fun vacation destinations, as well as corporate traveller destinations,” Turtiainen said.

Mikko Turtiainen at Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport (photo courtesy Christina Newberry)

CONSISTENT PRODUCT & AN ALL-NEW FLEET

Condor long-haul flights all use the same configuration on the same aircraft: An Airbus A330-900neo with 216 Economy seats, 64 Premium Economy seats, and 30 Business Class seats, including four Prime seats at the front of the plane that offer additional room and perks. This eliminates the potential for downgrades or seating changes based on last-minute aircraft substitutions.

“This is key for advisors in terms of consistency of product,” Turtiainen said. “It makes it so much easier that you don’t have surprises or passengers don’t have surprises when they get to the airport.”

Condorʻs long-haul A330-900neo aircraft

The airline currently has 18 of these wide body aircraft, all less than four years old. They’re the result of a big swing Condor took during the COVID-19 pandemic. When many airlines were struggling to survive, Condor invested in a completely new long-haul fleet.

“Now, we see the fruits of that,” Turtiainen said. “We were able to re-fleet in record time.”

More new aircraft are coming: one new wide body per year until 2031, bringing the total long-haul fleet to 25.

“We see some of that capacity coming to Canada,” Turtiainen said.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAVEL ADVISORS TO AN INDEPENDENT BRAND

2026 marks Condor’s 70th anniversary, but the airline still lacks the name-recognition of its legacy competitors in North America. Beachy striped livery creates strong visual branding, but passengers may not know what to expect from an independent brand not tied to any alliance.

That makes travel advisors a critical point of connection.

Condorʻs A330-900neo Business Class

“We really value working with the trade,” Turtiainen said. “This is where we really differentiate ourselves. We come back with first-point-of-contact answers, rather than pushing them from one number to another. We want to make sure that – okay, we got it. We’ll take care of it. We’ll find a solution. It’s that solution-oriented approach that we want to define Condor here in North America.”

Turtiainen’s top tips for advisors? First, Condor’s Premium Economy offers clients great value.

“This is where we have the most aggressive price difference versus the legacy carriers,” he said. “It’s like an elite-status sort of perk for travellers who may not be frequent fliers.”

For a C-level executives, VIPs, and clients travelling for a special occasion, book the Prime Seats, he adds. These four seats at the front of the plane offer a larger bed with more legroom, extra amenities and complimentary pyjamas. There’s even space to sit opposite your travelling companion with a seatbelt and table in the middle so you can face each other. To reserve, create a business class booking, then choose the prime seats as the ASR.

To learn more, go to condor.com.

Lead image caption: Condor’s Director of Sales for the Americas, Mikko Turtiainen