Unbelievable! UK’s Second Busiest Airport Welcomes Fifth New Aircraft in 11 Days

There is something exciting about startups. The length of the route and flight does not matter. All that matters is that they are celebrated and made special. Plus, it’s an easy and inexpensive way to get more publicity and referrals—and they’re a lot of fun.

It is even more noticeable when a new aircraft joins the airport’s operation. And in the case of London Gatwick, they always welcome a new carrier. On April 1, German airline Condor became the fifth airliner so far this year—all in 11 days. I was delighted to be on Condor’s first flight as a passenger.

First Condor Flight from Gatwick

of the Condor a new way to leave Frankfurt at Gatwick marked the debut of the German recreational vehicle in the UK. The route exists as a budget option between Frankfurt and London (which had over a million domestic passengers last year) and connects passengers to Frankfurt to reach many destinations across Europe and beyond. Condor serves Gatwick three times a day. It’s bound to make my new weekly party post (see this week’s edition).

Mainly to avoid the traffic jams on the M25 motorway, which is the UK’s largest motorway, I arrived at Gatwick at 7.50am, two and a half hours ahead of schedule. 10:20 am departure. Ironically, Condor’s check-in site says the flight uses the North Terminal, while Gatwick’s website says it’s the South Terminal. Although this inconsistency needed to be corrected, it did not prove to be a problem.

Despite traveling in Condor business class (more on that below), I was unable to get an advance boarding pass. So I went to Zone D in the North Terminal. Although I had a separate desk for business analysis, there was no staff, so I had to use the economy desk. The woman apologized and let me go to the front of the line. But the biggest frustration was waiting in the country for a long time just to get a boarding pass.

It was unclear whether the ticket included a security speeding ticket. It is not mentioned in other places. I went to security, and asked the staff member who runs the express desk. He was not sure, and said, “You fly Condor, is that Air France?”

Access to the Plaza Premium Lounge is included. Although it is a simple configuration, it has a great view, including many terminals and a runway with two Emirates Airbus A380s parked because of the war. I liked the welcome sign (but with a Condor 767-300ER in the old livery) celebrating the arrival of the aircraft and a special drink. Happily, the living room was quiet.

Flight and boarding

Flight DE4122 boarded at gate 50. I passed through the Air France gate as the flight returned to Paris CDG. The SkyTeam The carrier is another new aircraft in Gatwick’s portfolio. Well, that’s not strictly true. It last flew to the UK’s second-busiest airport in 2007, although it is only from Paris. As I walked to the gate, I saw Air Arabia to Sharjah on the flight information screen. But because of the war, this traffic has delayed its launch until June. If not, Gatwick would have received six flights in 11 days!

No new route or airline launch would be complete without some goodies, and this launch did not disappoint. There were free pens, key ring attachments, other items for sale and lots of cake. I was asked if I would like a second slice, which I would have done—but it wasn’t even 9:30 in the morning.

Despite the large ‘Airbus 320 NEO’ on the boarding pass, the A320ceo was used. Registered D-ATCH, the aircraft is 25 years old and is one of the oldest airframes in Condor’s fleet. According to Flightradar24, it arrived at Gatwick at 8:37am, about 1h 45m before it took off back to Germany. While Condor’s cable design is highly controversial, I like it — it’s very clear.

DE4122 started boarding at 9:48 am, which was half an hour before departure. However the boarding took a very long 22 minutes, even though the plane was not full. The flight turned back one minute before 10:19 am. Due to the close deployment of a TUI Boeing 787-9 to Melbourne (Florida) and an Air Transat A321LR that stopped after arriving from Toronto, it took seven minutes before taxiing to runway 26L. Since there was only one departing plane ahead of us, and the incoming plane was far enough away on its approach, we took off 10:34.

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Seat, Meal, and Flight

Condor’s business class is standard European, which includes a middle seat that is left free. While some planes have a table in between, to make it more organized, Condor had none, not even cushions. Considering the fixed curtain, there is a unique premium room. I wonder if economy passengers can use it if there is nobody in business. On this flight, three sections of seats were full, but mostly with Condor employees.

I was in seat 2A, which was exactly like the A320ceo economy seats. The solid product was 100% the same. There was no extra legroom or other features. To the delight of the old short-haul aircraft, there was a navigation map (this was missing on the new aircraft when I returned to Gatwick). Entertainment was also available, but not on my device. I could have downloaded up to three Condor eJournals, but I didn’t, since I had my book.

Eight minutes after take-off, and before the plane touched down on the English coast, drinks were served: hot, soft or alcoholic. Since it was only 10:46, I chose the coffee, which was good—but the chocolates were even better. When served in a cool striped mug, the stripes were the wrong way to present the food!

Although I had no choice of food, I was served a cold, very tasty breakfast. The website said the ‘premium’ sandwich would be available on flights up to 90 minutes, but I really liked this dish. Ironically, food and drink were consumed when they reached the shores of France.

The plane arrived in Frankfurt at 12:36 local time1h 2m after takeoff, on runway 07L. After an 11-minute taxi to the B47, during which half of the 747s were in sight, a good thought crossed my mind. Frankfurt is now home to 70% of the world’s remaining 747 passenger aircraft and 52% of the final A340 services.