Condor cuts R.I. international flights
Germany-based airline struggled with competition from Logan
WARWICK, R.I. — Travelers can't fly from T.F. Green Airport to Frankfurt, Germany, any longer.
Condor Airlines, a German company based in Frankfurt, ceased its routes to Green last month, a little more than a year after it started offering international flights between Rhode Island and Germany.
This year, two low-cost Germany-based airlines, Eurowings and Airberlin, started offering flights to and from Logan Airport in Boston, according to Peter Frazier, the interim chief executive officer and president of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation. Condor found it difficult to compete.
"We parted on great terms; we look forward to trying to entice them back," Frazier said, noting that Condor Airlines has chosen not to offer service from any New England airport.
The operational impact on T.F. Green was small, with the airline only providing flights to and from Frankfurt for three months out of the year.
To entice Condor Airlines to start the service, Rhode island airport officials had waived landing fees for two years, which is the maximum allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Frazier added that the usage of Azores Airlines and TACV Cabo Verde Airlines, two international airlines with flights from T.F. Green to the Azores and Cabo Verde, is "very strong."
In an unrelated airport matter, customers can also no longer use the LAZ parking service, where people parked in a lot and were then transported by shuttle to the terminal. The airport corporation finalized the purchase of the 6.5-acre property and business assets on Friday. It was owned by ProPartners in Parking, LLC and run by LAZ, for $3 million, Frazier said.
The property is located close to Post Road near the Legal Sea Foods restaurant.
"We will market the LAZ property immediately to be sold," Frazier said. The shuttles, part of the assets, will be rebranded and used at the airport.
A sign at the LAZ parking entrance announced no new entries are allowed. Drivers were invited to use the garages on the Green Airport property. Those include lots A, B, C and D, an hourly lot, as well as the long-term lot E.
People currently parked in the LAZ lot will still be able to drive away when they return to the airport with "no disruption," Frazier said.
T.F. Green will honor the points customers accumulated in LAZ's corporate program, Frazier said.
"It should be a seamless experience for everyone," he said.
These developments are occurring at the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, which operates T.F. Green, as the organization is undergoing a change in leadership. Iftikhar Ahmad is the corporation’s new president and CEO; he is expected to begin on Oct. 13.
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"Condor Airlines advised us that they would be ceasing service," on Sept. 1, said Peter Frazier, the interim chief executive officer and president for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation. Iftikhar Ahmad is the corporation’s new president and CEO; he is expected to begin on Oct. 13.
The airline began service at T.F. Green in 2015. But this year two new low cost airlines, Eurowings and Airberlin began offering service to Europe out of Boston, Frazier said, and Condor Airlines could not compete.