Marabu (airline)

Airline based in Germany

Marabu

| IATA | ICAO | Call sign

|
|

DI  | MBU  | MARABU
Founded| 13 December 2022
Commenced operations| 15 April 2023
Operating bases|

* Hamburg Airport
* Munich Airport

Fleet size| 6
Parent company| Attestor Capital
Headquarters| Tallinn, Estonia
Key people|

* Axel Schefe (CEO)
* Tony Larsson (COO)

Website| flymarabu.com

Marabu, styled as marabu and legally incorporated as Marabu Airlines OÜ, 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Marabu at Wikimedia Commons

* Official website

Portals:

* Estonia
* Aviation

* v
* t
* e

Airlines of Estonia

Passenger|

* Flyest
* Marabu
* NyxAir
* SmartLynx Airlines Estonia

Cargo|

* Airest

Defunct|

* Aero Airlines
* Aeronaut
* Air Livonia
* Avies
* ELK Airways
* Enimex
* Estonian Air
* Nordica

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template