{"id":348441,"date":"2024-05-13T10:30:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T14:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesopedia.com\/?p=348441"},"modified":"2024-09-27T05:57:38","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T09:57:38","slug":"marabu-airlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesopedia.com\/en\/reviews\/flights\/marabu-airlines\/","title":{"rendered":"Marabu Airlines: An Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The airline has been a rather surprising addition to the European airline space, and has been in the news quite regularly and recently again. If your upcoming holiday plans include a Condor flight within Europe<\/a>, you might be booking Marabu without knowing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternatively, you might be in a similar situation as I was a couple <\/span>of<\/span> months ago: you want to learn more about the airline that is responsible for an upcoming flight of yours. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some of it might sound scary or even amusing – in the end, I\u2019d like to ease a bit of your concerns and enable you to <\/span>have<\/span> a trip as smooth as possible!<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”What or Who Exactly Is Marabu?” el_id=”what_or_who_exactly_is_marabu_”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Marabu Airlines, officially \u201cMarabu Airlines O\u00dc\u201d, is an Estonian leisure airline that was founded on 13th December 2022 and the airline commenced operations on 15th April 2023. The airline was founded by Attestor Capital, which also owns a 51% stake in the German leisure airline Condor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ticket sales for Marabu are handled exclusively by Condor, which describes Marabu as a \u201cpartner airline\u201d. First, rumored as a potentially strange almost in-house competitor to Condor, it then became clear that Marabu is more of a little (rather low-cost) \u201csister airline\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even the naming shows their relationship: the condor bird is <\/span>the<\/span> largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere while Marabu is the German term for the marabou (stork) that is native to sub-Saharan Africa and often credited with the largest spread of any land bird to rival the (Andean) condor.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Why Marabu and Is Marabu Safe?” el_id=”why_marabu_and_is_marabu_safe_”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

In short: Yes. Marabu has entered the European air and especially the air space of Germany\u2019s incumbent Lufthansa<\/a>. There is little room next to the large Lufthansa crane, so the space covered by the competitors is rather niche (i.e. mostly holiday or \u201cexotic\u201d destinations) and done in a rather low-cost way (i.e. airlines like Ryanair or Transavia<\/a>). <\/span><\/p>\n

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Some people hear\/read Estonia and are potentially a bit concerned due to the Baltic\/Eastern European association, but this should not be the case as Estonia is not only a member state of the European Union with its rules but also subject to all airline regulations that put safety first. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Marabu operates mainly the Airbus A320 aircraft and (according to its own website), \u201cits fleet is maintained to the highest European standards\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”What’s the Airline’s History?” el_id=”what_s_the_airline_s_history_”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Since the news of its founding in December 2022, Marabu has been in the news frequently and regularly. <\/span>When you google Marabu <\/span>Airlines<\/span>, you will get tons of (mainly negative) news that might scare any traveler looking forward to a relaxed holiday. Let me give you a quick recap of the history, but also ease your concerns a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, the airline had a rocky start in April 2022 with the one and only plane (an A320neo) of their entire fleet breaking down on its sixth day of operations, which resulted in probably millions of euros of costs due to the stranded passengers on Lanzarote.<\/span><\/p>\n

The unplanned extension of the stay by two days for the passengers triggers costs for at least additional accommodation, catering\/fare, and replacement flights. All very costly, especially on such short notice!<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, Marabu\u2019s limited fleet led to the use of multiple partners (as they had to heavily rely on wet lease) and technical issues continued also sometimes even with the planes of the partners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within the first days of Marabu\u2019s operations, it had to already cut routes and use already the help of multiple airlines across Europe (Nordica <\/span>Airlines<\/span>, Heston Airlines, Fly2Sky, Sundair, Chair Air, Plus Ultra, White Airways, Lumiwings, Chair Airlines).<\/span><\/p>\n

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News of Marabu was dominated by a chaotic organisation of the airline as well as flight delays\/cancellations. The result: the compensation costs continued to increase and the image of Marabu was already negatively associated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In July, an anonymous pilot shared criticism regarding poor working conditions (and then also partially safety-relevant!) <\/span>through<\/span> the press.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that month, I (had already booked and) took a flight from Munich<\/a> to Chania (Crete). I initially chose that flight due to its modest price. After booking and with the increase and continuation of such negative news, I honestly was rather worried. <\/span>I have not been that stressed for a long time due to an upcoming flight.<\/p>\n

In August, leadership changes went through the news. On the one hand, the CEO of Nordica Airlines (a close wet lease partner) was replaced due to the poor performance also related to Marabu. On the other hand, the CEO of Marabu suddenly resigned (and his successor was first presented as interim and only by December confirmed as permanent).<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”And What About Now?” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” el_id=”and_what_about_now_”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

By now, Marabu has established itself as a little sister of Condor and the low-cost leisure airline it aimed to be. The statistics (regarding punctuality) and customer reviews are getting better. However, the financial losses in the millions of euros would have their aftermath. In December 2023, it was announced that the largest partner Nordica was ending the partnership and that the two airlines would continue on separate ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Nordica is Estonia\u2019s premier carrier, it was once founded and is also financed by Germany – which had stopped the financing in November after reviewing the losses of Nordica that amounted to more than 12 million euros in the first three quarters of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Nordica is looking for a private purchaser of the airline. Otherwise, it would go insolvent. The Nordica news is sad but not directly affecting Marabu as it has moved out of the joint offices and moved on from the partnership. With the operations of Marabu reaching constant levels, it looks like it can continue on its own.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Which Destinations Are Covered by Marabu?” el_id=”which_destinations_are_covered_by_marabu_”][vc_custom_heading text=”From Germany” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” el_id=”from_germany”][vc_column_text el_class=”checkmarks”]<\/p>\n

Marabu Airlines is an airline that offers non-stop flights from Hamburg and Munich to various popular holiday destinations primarily around the Mediterranean: <\/span><\/p>\n