This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Condor will continue to take to the skies after the German state shielded the airline from the demise of its parent company Thomas Cook with a €380m bridging loan.

The sum, provided by the federal government and the state of Hesse where the firm is based, must first be approved by the European commission’s competition watchdog.

Condor’s chief executive, Ralf Teckentrup, said the intervention on Tuesday was justified because the airline had a strong track record of profitability.

“[This] is an operationally healthy and profitable company, which will also record a positive result in the current fiscal year,” he said. “Because our liquidity for the seasonally weaker booking period was used up by our insolvent parent company, we needed this bridge financing to get us through the winter.”

Founded in 1955, the Frankfurt-based carrier holds a nostalgic value for many older Germans who associate its name with the newfound freedom of the postwar boom years.

Der Spiegel magazine this week described the carrier as “part of the inventory of the old federal republic, like the Volkswagen Beetle”.

Condor, which was gradually sold by Lufthansa to Thomas Cook in 2000-09, operates a larger fleet thanThomas Cook, with 58 planes in operation.

The bailout has been criticised by the pro-business Free Democratic party and the German taxpayers’ association, which argued most of Condor’s passengers were insured through their travel agency and would not have been left in the lurch.

Play Video 0:52 Passengers react to chaos as Thomas Cook collapses – video

In Britain, Boris Johnson ruled out a state rescue for Thomas Cook, saying it would created a “moral hazard” in future cases of companies on the brink.

Condor’s plea for state support followed the recent bailout of Air Berlin. The government pledged a €150m loan to help the low-cost carrier in August 2017, after Etihad Airways withdrew funding after years of losses.

Last week Air Berlin’s liquidator confirmed the carrier had repaid the loan. Though it has not found a buyer, the loan has reduced damages for passengers, employees and business partners.

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Meanwhile, Thomas Cook GmbH, the German subsidiary of Thomas Cook, also filed for insolvency on Wednesday. The company said it was forced to take the step to free itself from financial entanglements and liabilities after its parent company filed for insolvency on Monday.

Thomas Cook GmbH said it would restructure the business and run it independently. “Of course we would have liked to avoid this legal step,” said the chief executive, Stefanie Berk. “But sadly no short-term solution could be reached in our negotiations.”

Its operations include the tour groups Thomas Cook GmbH, Thomas Cook Touristik GmbH and Bucher Reisen & Öger Tours GmbH and others.