Starting next year, San Diego will get its second nonstop flight to a European destination, thanks to an agreement with Condor, a German airline, to fly directly to Frankfurt, Germany.

While the flights will not operate year-round, service will be available during the crucial summer season, between May and October, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority announced Thursday.

Condor, which has been in operation since 1956, will operate two flights weekly — Mondays and Thursdays — starting May 1, and add a third flight, on Saturdays, starting July 8. The initial two weekly flights will run through early October, with Saturday service operating through Sept. 2.

Condor estimates that one-way flights from Frankfurt to San Diego will start at nearly $400.


Based on Condor’s operation in other U.S. cities, it’s very possible that the airline could eventually expand service to San Diego for additional months beyond the May-October season, said Hampton Brown, who oversees air service development for the airport.

San Diego has been looking to expand European nonstop air service for at least the last year as the popularity of its British Airways flights to London has grown, he noted.

“As we saw British Airways grow, especially in the summer months, it was operating at full capacity, so even if a San Diegan or European wanted to get on a direct flight, it was very difficult to do so,” Brown said. “We talk to many airlines in Europe on a regular basis, and with this one, the timing was right because Condor had available aircraft and had been looking for a gateway in California.”

Germany also made the most sense as the next destination for a nonstop overseas flight, given that it’s the most heavily frequented — after the United Kingdom — by San Diego international passengers, Brown said.


Condor, which also announced it would be flying twice a week nonstop to New Orleans, is gradually expanding service to U.S. destinations that, like San Diego, don’t have direct connections to Germany.

“We are very pleased to introduce this new link between San Diego and Frankfurt, giving Southern California a unique choice for their travels to Germany,” Jens Boyd, Condor’s group head of long-haul service, said in a statement. “And with our numerous partner airlines we offer flights beyond Frankfurt to over 120 destinations across Europe at very competitive prices. Furthermore, San Diego is a very attractive destination for European tourists, and we also will stimulate traffic from this direction.”

The route will operate on 259-seat, Boeing 767-300ER aircraft and offer three classes of service: business, premium and economy. Because Condor has an agreement with Lufthansa to fly to other European destinations, the new nonstop flights out of San Diego will make it easier for passengers to continue on to cities like Paris, Vienna, Prague, Venice, Berlin and Rome.

In addition to London and now Frankfurt, San Diego’s only other overseas nonstop is daily service to Tokyo on Japan Airlines.


It’s estimated that the nonstop to Germany will bring as many as 14,000 new arrivals to San Diego during the summer months.

“Nonstop service is the key to growing our business from international markets, and we know, based on the success of the British Airlines and Japan Airlines flights, that new nonstop service delivers new customers who stay longer and spend more money than domestic travelers,” said Joe Terzi, CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority. “We continue to work with our partners at San Diego International Airport to attract new service and have China and South America on the list of target markets.”

While the airport’s priority is to secure nonstop service to a Central American hub city, economic struggles in Latin America could hamper progress in that effort for some time, Brown said. Additional European air service is more likely to occur first, he said.

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-2251 Twitter: @loriweisberg