Düsseldorf: Condor launches new flight connection to Frankfurt

From May 2026, Condor will depart daily from Düsseldorf at 6 a.m. The destination is only a 90-minute train ride away. Why is the new connection being offered anyway?

Starting in May 2026, the leisure airline Condor plans to offer daily flights from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt at 6:00 AM. The Airbus aircraft will transport passengers to connecting with long-haul flights departing from Frankfurt. The return flight will depart at 7:30 PM. The airline emphasizes that passengers have a free choice of flight options – alternatively, the ICE high-speed train is available, which covers the route in under 90 minutes.

Anti-aircraft noise activists are outraged by the plans. "We need fewer, not more, takeoffs and landings," Christoph Lange of the Meerbusch-based citizens' group "Citizens Against Aircraft Noise" told the Rheinische Post. Werner Kindsmüller of the Kaarst residents' initiative "Against Aircraft Noise" considers the connection pointless, given the existing excellent rail links. He is calling for a ban on all flights on routes that can be reached by train in a maximum of three hours. According to the Rheinische Post, the early departure time is particularly upsetting to local residents.

Behind the new route appears to be a legal dispute: Condor is in court with Lufthansa over the conditions under which the leisure airline is allowed to carry passengers on Lufthansa feeder flights. After the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf overturned a decision by the Federal Cartel Office in favor of Condor, the airline wants to become less dependent on its largest German competitor.

The decline in domestic flights is also evident at Lufthansa itself: The Düsseldorf-Frankfurt route has been reduced from 50 to 35 weekly flights. CEO Carsten Spohr explained in June that domestic flights would be discontinued "gradually" because they had "become far too expensive."

For Condor, the feeder flights from North Rhine-Westphalia are still important: In Frankfurt, 18 long-haul jets are ready for destinations such as New York, the Caribbean, and Africa. These aircraft can only be filled profitably with passengers from the densely populated Rhineland region. In Düsseldorf itself, Condor operates ten jets for Mediterranean destinations; according to the "Rheinische Post," no long-haul aircraft are based there.