Marabu Airlines to Start Operations in Germany

DALLAS – Estonia debuts a new airline this month as startup Marabu Airlines receives its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and Operating License. The new carrier is expected to commence operations shortly from two first bases in Germany: Hamburg Fuhlsbuettel (HAM) and Munich Franz Josef Strauss (MUC) airports.

The new Estonian carrier will fly out of Germany and not out of Estonia because the startup has been helmed since its creation by Attestor, the parent company of Condor Flugdienst (DE) with a 51% share of the German airline. As a result, the main goals of Marabu are to support DE on its current medium-haul leisure route network between Germany and Spain. Portugal, Greece, Egypt, Croatia, and Italy.

Paul Schwaiger has been elected as the Chief Executive Officer of Marabu. The newly-appointed CEO said, "We are extremely grateful to the Estonian authorities for the great cooperation that allowed us to establish and set up Marabu in four months".

The quick foundation time of just four months is why Estonia has been chosen for the registration of the startup, as the helpful bureaucracy processes in the country, as well as cooperation with other carriers such as Xfly (EE) or Nordica (ND), have made very easy the setup of the company.

At the moment of writing, and due to its initial collaboration with DE, Marabu has not been assigned any IATA code, yet its ICAO code has been set as MBU. The airline has already received its first aircraft, an ex-IndiGo (6E) Airbus A320neo, at the beginning of April. Three more units are expected to join the fleet in the coming weeks coming from the Indian carrier as well.

For the moment, Marabu will act as a support carrier flying part of the current European leisure network of Condor out of Hamburg and Munich. Photo: Julian Schöpfer/Airways

Marabu, Supported by Nordic Aviation Group

At the beginning of its operations, and thanks to its registration in Estonia, Marabu will receive counseling services from the Nordic Aviation Group, owner of EE and ND, which will provide the startup carrier with operational and support services.

Thanks to this support, German and Estonian aviation industries have managed to further strengthen their ties with the cooperation of another two large companies in the commercial aviation market.

Marabu started operations on April 15 with its first flight connecting Munich (MUC) with Palma de Mallorca (PMI). Apart from its Mediterranean network, Marabu will also serve flights from Munich and Hamburg to Tallinn from May 21 and June 16, 2023, respectively.

Featured image: Marabu Airlines

https://airwaysmag.com/airlines-first-time-flying-2022/