The Hill Country’s German settler descendants now have an easy way to visit “das Vaterland,” as Condor Airlines has begun twice-weekly, nonstop flights from San Antonio to Frankfurt.
With its distinctive, colorful, vertical stripes on the fuselage, Condor began service direct from San Antonio International to Frankfurt, Germany in May.
Nonstop flights range from $1,099 for business class down to as low as $299 round trip for economy on its Airbus A330neo planes, which hold over 300 passengers. (A mid-tier “premium economy” option also is available.)
Airline personnel and representatives from the San Antonio International Airport visited several German enclave towns like San Antonio, Boerne, New Braunfels and Fredericksburg earlier this year to tout the flights.
“It definitely helps that this corridor from Austin to San Antonio, with Fredericksburg and New Braunfels and Boerne, that there’s a very strong German heritage here,” said Mikko Turtiainen, director of sales in the Americas. “The German roots are very strong and that helps us as a German airline to get a core passenger group to fly with us.”
Turtiainen said the airline also is working with groups to get Germans flying west over the Atlantic to visit San Antonio and Central Texas, particularly promoting the Hill Country.
“It has a lot of history, and we’re trying to get as much traffic as we can going both ways,” he said. “The history, the culture and the food bridges companies, communities, cities and more.”
Turtiainen said a new route is always a huge investment for an airline, but it was one which Condor and the San Antonio International Airport had worked on for years.
“In a way we’re going into something new, but we look at the elements like the German community,” he said. He added that Condor had flown into Austin for the past seven or eight years. “So this is definitely a great opportunity. San Antonio also has the military presence, so that’s one element of it with Darmstadt being a U.S. Armed Forces base about an hour from Frankfurt.”
Turtiainen said 2024 would be a learning year, but he was optimistic.
“A direct flight is definitely the appeal,” Turtiainen said. “But we also made a bold decision during the pandemic to invest in new aircraft. So planes flying out of San Antonio will be our new Airbus A330. We’re not part of an alliance like the other airlines, and we’re very competitive on price, but in no way would I call us a budget line.
Turtiainen said the new flights are an opportunity for business, or casual travelers who want to explore their roots, or even explore other parts of Europe with Frankfurt being a first stop.
While Lufthansa is the biggest German-based airline, Condor positions itself as the scrappy newcomer with services that value the legacy carrier.
“It’s a huge milestone,” said Brian Pratte, chief air service development officer for SAIA. “It’s not an overnight process and this was a good six years in the making. It’s a data-driven story and everything at the end of the day has to make sense economically, and we’re thrilled that this came to fruition.”
Pratte collected data on German travelers and worked in conjunction with San Antonio tourism entities.
Brady Closson, executive director of the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau, welcomed the group from Condor and San Antonio International Airport at a lunch at Hill & Vine restaurant. The CVB’s visitor statistics show most German visitors don’t stay in one place like San Antonio when they visit, but prefer to get out into the Hill Country, particularly into German settlement towns like Fredericksburg or New Braunfels.
“This new opportunity is truly exciting and one that expands our connectivity between the Fatherland and Central Texas,” Closson said. “We couldn’t be more proud to have Fredericksburg with a seat at the table, to help promote in a noncompetitive fashion. San Antonio offers so many things, but we also feel Fredericksburg complements everything San Antonio offers, as well.”
Fredericksburg Mayor Jeryl Hoover saw the flights as an opportunity to promote the heritage, as well.
“I’m so glad that they brought Fredericksburg into their consideration for all of their publicity,” Hoover said. “When I was the director of the Gillespie County Historical Society, we kept track of where people came from. And every month, the international travelers were heavily from Germany.
“And we also know that there are people who live here that still have roots there, so it sounds like it’s tailor-made,” Hoover said. “It was a really good authentic connection and not just a travel opportunity.”
• Airliners — Airbus A330neo
• 1-2-1 configuration in business class (with 4 “prime seats”)