With Peter Gerber, Condor has gained an extremely successful aviation manager as its new managing director.

When he left the top post at Lufthansa Cargo AG in March 2021 to manage Brussels Airlines and represent the Lufthansa Group in European affairs, his successor at the helm of the Lufthansa cargo subsidiary, Dorothea von Boxberg, had every reason to be happy.

Because in the middle of the biggest crisis in aviation ever, Gerber left her brilliant business figures.

Boxberg was able to present earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 772 million euros for the 2020 financial year, after only one million euros in the previous year.

Jochen Remert

Airport editor and correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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The passionate chess player Gerber began his career in the Lufthansa Group in 1992. Before the qualified lawyer and business economist, who was born in Gießen in 1964, managed the Lufthansa freight subsidiary from 2014 to spring 2021, he was responsible, among other things, as a member of the board of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines responsible for human resources, IT and services and from 2001 to 2004 headed the group-wide program for safeguarding results "D-Check".

Since 1996, Lufthansa has relied on strategic programs to improve its competitiveness.

From the "D-Check" the then executive board around Jürgen Weber expected an additional cash flow contribution of one billion euros within three years.

Before it expired, it was already 1.6 billion euros.

When it comes to the very big task of the aviation industry, namely to enable CO2-neutral flying, Gerber, as the foreman of the Lufthansa cargo airlines, together with the customer DB Schenker, showed the way and set up a CO2-neutral connection from Frankfurt to Shanghai, which has now become permanent .

Now, in turn, Gerber at Condor can rely on what the outgoing boss Ralf Teckentrup has specified: In five years, the airline's entire fleet should consist of 57 new Airbus machines, Boeing was yesterday.

13 Airbus A320neo and 28 Airbus A321neo aircraft have been ordered for short and medium-haul routes, and 16 Airbus A330neo aircraft for long-haul routes.

The medium-haul aircraft alone should consume a fifth less kerosene and thus emit correspondingly less CO2.

When Teckentrup leaves after around 20 years and Gerber takes over in February 2024, the newcomer can plan with the more economical fleet.

Before that, however, Teckentrup had to steer the airline through the darkest valleys in its history, starting with the corona pandemic, the bankruptcy of the parent company Thomas Cook and a failed takeover by PGL, the mother of the Polish LOT.

But what seemed impossible in the crisis succeeded: The investor Attestor joined the ailing airline.

Teckentrup was also able to announce that the jobs of the 4,050 Condorians had been saved.