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Marabu (airline)

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Marabu
IATA ICAO Call sign
DI MBU MARABU
Founded13 December 2022
Commenced operations15 April 2023
Operating bases
Fleet size6
Parent companyAttestor Capital
HeadquartersTallinn, Estonia
Key people
  • Axel Schefe (CEO)
  • Tony Larsson (COO)
Websiteflymarabu.com

Marabu, styled as marabu and legally incorporated as Marabu Airlines , is an Estonian leisure airline headquartered in Tallinn, with operations based at Hamburg Airport and Munich Airport in Germany. Ticket sales are handled by Condor, who describes the carrier as a partner airline.[1]

History

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On 13 December 2022, Attestor Capital, the owner of a 51% stake in German leisure airline Condor, announced the incorporation of an Estonia-registered carrier, with operations starting in the 2023 summer season, utilising Airbus A320neo aircraft chartered from Nordica. The carrier is fully owned by German-based special purpose vehicle CD Ferienflug Hessen Holding GmbH.[2]

Nordic Aviation Group, the parent company of Nordica, had previously disclosed their role in setting up an Estonian AOC for an unidentified customer, to start operations in Spring 2023. On 6 April 2023, Xfly, part of Nordic Aviation Group, published a video on their YouTube channel announcing that this process had been completed.[3]

On 15 April 2023, Marabu's first aircraft, registered ES-MBU, flew the first service from Munich to Palma de Mallorca under the callsign MBU6508.[4]

Shortly after its inauguration, Marabu faced media attention and severe criticism due to several major delays, flight cancellations and supposedly insufficient communication to customers. The airline stated technical issues with leased aircraft and missing cabin crew as a cause and planned to phase-in additional third-party operators to stabilize the schedule.[5][6][7] Trying to stabilize its operations, Marabu cancelled their routes from both Hamburg and Munich to Tallinn before they even started and cut the flights from Hamburg to Rome after just few flights.[8]

Destinations

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The carrier serves around 20 holiday destinations in Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.[9] It was also announced that a larger range of destinations in Germany would be served.[10][11]

Country City Airport Notes
Croatia Split Split Airport
Egypt Hurghada Hurghada International Airport [12]
Germany Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Airport
Frankfurt Frankfurt Airport
Hamburg Hamburg Airport Hub
Leipzig/Halle Leipzig-Halle Airport
Munich Munich Airport Hub
Nuremberg Nuremberg Airport
Stuttgart Stuttgart Airport
Cologne/Bonn Cologne Bonn Airport Begins 11 October 2024 [13][14]
Greece Chania Chania International Airport
Corfu Corfu International Airport
Heraklion Heraklion International Airport
Karpathos Karpathos Island National Airport
Kefalonia Kefalonia International Airport
Kos Kos International Airport
Preveza/Lefkada Aktion National Airport
Rhodes Rhodes International Airport
Volos Nea Anchialos National Airport
Zakynthos Zakynthos International Airport
Italy Rome Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport Terminated[15]
Olbia Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport
Lamezia Terme Lamezia Terme International Airport
Portugal Faro Faro Airport
Spain Fuerteventura Fuerteventura Airport [16]
Gran Canaria Gran Canaria Airport
Jerez de la Frontera Jerez Airport
Lanzarote Lanzarote Airport
Malaga Malaga Airport
Palma de Mallorca Palma de Mallorca Airport
Santa Cruz de La Palma La Palma Airport
Tenerife Tenerife-South Airport [17]
Turkey Istanbul Istanbul Airport

Fleet

[edit]
Marabu Airbus A320neo

As of February 2024, the Marabu fleet consists of the following aircraft:[18]

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 2 180 operated by European Air Charter
Airbus A320neo 4 180 operated by Nordica
Total 6

References

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  1. ^ "New German leisure carrier Marabu to launch in 2023". Routes Online. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Attestor Capital unleashes Marabu in Estonia". CH Aviation. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  3. ^ Marabu AOC. YouTube. Xfly_aero. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Flight history for aircraft ES-MBU - 15 April 2023". flightradar24.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-17.
  5. ^ Thor, Ingo (2023-06-26). "Befreiungsschlag? Mallorca-Pannenflieger Marabu setzt Jets von anderen Airlines ein". Mallorca Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  6. ^ "Verspätung, Stornierung, Überbuchung: Die Rechte der Fluggäste". BR24 (in German). 2023-06-07. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  7. ^ Horch, Wolfgang (2023-06-07). "Marabu: Nach Chaos an Flughäfen – Airline reagiert". www.abendblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  8. ^ "Marabu will Fehlstart ausbügeln". www.touristik-aktuell.de (in German). 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
  9. ^ "Destinations". Marabu. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Marabu names further airports for the flight start". Aviation Direct. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Marabu Airlines outlines NS23 network". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  12. ^ https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240716-dinw24cgn
  13. ^ https://www.koeln-bonn-airport.de/fluggaeste/airport-aktuell/detail/mit-marabu-zu-sonnenzielen.html
  14. ^ https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240716-dinw24cgn
  15. ^ "News". 4 June 2024.
  16. ^ https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240716-dinw24cgn
  17. ^ https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240716-dinw24cgn
  18. ^ "Marabu Airlines". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
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Media related to Marabu at Wikimedia Commons