Condor acquisition ‘distorts competition’: Lufthansa

Lufthansa has sharply criticised the planned acquisition of German leisure airline Condor by Polska Grupa Lotnicza, the parent of Polish flag carrier LOT, labelling it an example of “dubious” state intervention that “distorts competition”. In January, PGL disclosed that it would become Condor’s sole shareholder and intended to build up the Frankfurt-based airline as LOT’s leisure-focused leisure sister carrier. Government-owned PGL acknowledged that Condor’s acquisition was being financed by the Polish state. Lufthansa describes LOT as one of several European airlines that “no longer have a sustainable business model [and] have been kept flying by governments. “Poland has helped its state airline back on its feet several times,” the German airline group said. Lufthansa said a “one-off crisis intervention” by a government to rescue an airline from collapse “makes sense”. The group sees “substantial reasons for politicians to come to the rescue of companies in certain situations”, but warned: “It becomes problematic when state interventions become the rule.”<br/>