This idea seemed great on paper, but in reality, ended up being far more stressful than expected, and involved more buses than it did aircraft. That said, how did this often overlooked German airline actually perform when I flew with them from Rome Fiumicino to Prague via Frankfurt?
Flight 1: DE4186 Rome to Frankfurt
I actually arrived in Rome on a Jet2 flight from Glasgow, and decided against the direct Prague flight operated by Smartwings at 1400 due to the risk of delays on the inbound flight (a wise choice in the end given immigration queues and the late arrival time into Rome).
I made my way from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1, a short walk and made my way through security which was busy, but relatively efficient, apart from the woman in front of me who decided rules didn’t apply to her and didn’t take anything out of her pockets.
This particular flight was scheduled to depart at 1650, with the gate scheduled to be displayed at 1550, however, the screens in the airport eventually updated to show a new estimated departure time of 1720. Rome Fiumicino was very very busy, however, I was eventually able to find space to sit in the airport at one of the gates not being used.
Gate A24 was the departure gate used for this flight, and from previous experience I knew this was going to involve using a bus to reach the aircraft. Boarding was strictly by boarding group, and I was in group 2. My bag was not put in the baggage sizer, however the gate staff did tag my case with an overhead locker only tag.
Buses were very slow in arriving at the gate, however, two did arrive and take some passengers to the aircraft, myself included.
This particular aircraft “D-ATCF” was originally delivered to the now defunct German airline “Germania” in 2013, before being acquired by Condor in 2019, the aircraft has been in Condor’s “Blue Sea” livery since 2022.
Boarding was via steps, with both front and rear doors being used, as I was in row 28 I boarded through the back steps and was greeted by a very friendly member of the crew before making my way to my randomly assigned seat.
At this point I should probably explain something unique to Condor in my experience – the ability to reserve overhead bin space. This is something I have never experienced before, but seeing as I didn’t want the hassle of gate checking my bag through to Prague, I paid the extra €9.99 per flight to reserve the overhead locker space for my case. This was strictly enforced on this flight by a very friendly member of the crew who I don’t think realised what was coming next.
As the last bus full of passengers arrived at the aircraft a family of 3 boarded and tried to place their 3 cases in the overhead bin, only to be stopped by the crew member I interacted with as it was full. What then ensued was what seemed like a rather heated (one sided) argument about why they should have the right to use the overhead locker (the passenger switched between English and German so I can’t be certain), although there was a point I did seriously expect to see that suitcase getting flung through the cabin…thankfully it didn’t.
Another crew member eventually found space for the bags and the male passenger in question took his seat, I do wonder if he would have acted as tough as he thought he was if it was a male crew member rather than a female, but my money in any flight would have been on the crew (and the other passengers who were all watching).
The flight attendants completed a safety demonstration and we taxied for departure from Runway 16R at Fiumicino airport, departing at 1750, exactly 60 minutes behind schedule.
Shortly after takeoff another member of the crew appeared at Row 28 and instructed the male passenger who had been involved in the argument with the crew member on the ground to join him at the front of the aircraft, and after 10 or so minutes the passenger returned and stayed quiet for the rest of the flight.
Condor operates a buy-on-board service on this route, and drinks and snacks were offered by the crew approximately 40 minutes after departure. I did not purchase anything on this flight, but the service was friendly and seemed to be very efficient.
Just West of Munich we commenced our descent into Frankfurt, with this particular flight landing on Runway 25R, there is something a bit unsettling about coming into land at an airport and descending while flying past the airport, but rest assured we landed in one piece and taxied to our stand, landing 43 minutes late at 1923.
Connecting in Frankfurt
For those who have never taken a connecting flight in Frankfurt before, lets just say, it’s a big airport, and when your connection is reduced from 105 minutes to 60 minutes the last thing you want to see is 3 buses and a ground team hanging around a remote stand nowhere near the terminal building.
As I looked out the window, I saw 3 buses and a ground crew hanging around a remote stand “V173” waiting for us. If I am honest, at this point things were not looking great, so I opened Flightradar24 to see where my next aircraft was parked.
My inbound aircraft is where the yellow plane is, and the red line is where my Airbus A320NEO was parked waiting to take me to Prague…yikes was not the word that was in my head at the time, but to keep this review PG lets assume it was.
DE4186 pulled onto stand at 1930, after what felt like an eternity I walked onto the bus at 1937 only for us to be kept waiting for the last passenger, the passenger from earlier, to retrieve his suitcases from the front of the aircraft and exit.
The bus to the terminal told me the next gate in advance, B5, which thankfully meant I didn’t need to run the full distance to the aircraft, as it turns out, it’s another bus gate.
After running through the airport I made it to the gate at 2001, and after two other passengers arrived the gate was closed and we were able to board the bus to the aircraft.
Flight 2: DE4411 Frankfurt to Prague
This particular flight was scheduled to depart Frankfurt at 2025, and was operated by a 4 month old Airbus A320NEO, delivered to Condor in March 2026, and wearing the airlines “Green Island” livery – I am aware both aircraft happen to match the colour schemes of Glasgow football teams, good luck to Condor if they ever launch Glasgow flights!
Boarding was via front steps only, and it was clear this flight was not full, with passengers spreading out through the cabin with permission from the crew, this meant I had the full row to myself.
Departure on this flight was from Runway 18, and we departed Frankfurt at 2043, with the flight time only expected to be 40 minutes or so to Prague.
On this flight passengers were offered a free snack – a watermelon sweet in slightly terrifying packaging, as well as a free cup of water (if you are in the UK and want to try those sweets you can get them in Lidl for 99p).
Condor has Wi-Fi available for purchase on this flight, which I didn’t pay for as it didn’t seem good value for such a short flight, but let me know if you disagree.
After a very short cruise at 29,000ft we began our descent into Prague, landing on Runway 30 – this is the main runway in use currently at Prague as Runway 23 is closed currently for works to be carried out.
This aircraft spends the night in Prague before flying back to Frankfurt at 0850 the following morning, so I knew straight away it would be a remote stand and buses to the terminal – sure enough 3 buses were waiting at Stand 60 for us.
After a very short bus ride to the terminal I was out of the airport with my case and on my way into the city, Terminal 2 which is for flights to countries inside the Schengen area was the busier terminal at this time of night, so I walked round to Terminal 1 to get a seat on the bus.
Final Thoughts
I personally thought Condor was excellent, and in many ways much better than their biggest competitor Lufthansa.
Condor has a massive asset in its toolbox – their crew. On both my flights all the crew I interacted with were fantastic. They clearly communicated with passengers, created a welcome environment onboard, and dealt with difficult passengers professionally and firmly.
My only criticism of the airline is its website and app, they feel a bit clunky compared to some other airline apps – Ryanair and United set the standard for airline apps in my opinion, but I was still able to book and manage my flights so that is a plus.
As of the time of writing, Condor only flies to 1 UK airport, that being London Gatwick, I personally would love to see them expanding their UK network, and if they ever did launch Glasgow flights it would be interesting to see how their unique liveries are received by local passengers.
Based on my experience alone, if you have the opportunity to fly with Condor I would recommend them, and I would have no hesitation in booking them again should I need to do so.
Final Price Paid
These flights were booked two days before travel, and the invoice below is only for the flights, and does not include the reserved overhead lockers.
The invoice below is only for the reserved overhead lockers, once factored in with the flight cost, my total paid was €131.97 or approximately £113
George Nugent Travels 