Marabu (airline) explained

Airline:Marabu
Iata:DI
Icao:MBU
Callsign:MARABU
Founded:13 December 2022
Commenced:15 April 2023
Bases:
Fleet Size:6
Parent:Attestor Capital
Headquarters:Tallinn, Estonia
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

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

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]

CountryCityAirportNotes
CroatiaSplitSplit Airport
EgyptHurghadaHurghada International Airport[12]
GermanyDüsseldorfDüsseldorf Airport
Frankfurt
Hamburg
Leipzig/Halle
Munich
Nuremberg
Stuttgart
Cologne/Bonnfrom 11 October 2024 [13] [14]
GreeceChaniaChania International Airport
CorfuCorfu International Airport
Heraklion
KarpathosKarpathos Island National Airport
KefaloniaKefalonia International Airport
KosKos International Airport
Preveza/LefkadaAktion National Airport
RhodesRhodes International Airport
VolosNea Anchialos National Airport
ZakynthosZakynthos International Airport
ItalyRomeLeonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport[15]
Olbia
Lamezia Terme
PortugalFaroFaro Airport
SpainFuerteventuraFuerteventura Airport[16]
Gran CanariaGran Canaria Airport
Jerez de la FronteraJerez Airport
LanzaroteLanzarote Airport
MalagaMalaga Airport
Palma de MallorcaPalma de Mallorca Airport
Santa Cruz de La PalmaLa Palma Airport
TenerifeTenerife-South Airport[17]

Fleet

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

AircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotes
Airbus A320-2002 - 180operated by European Air Charter
Airbus A320neo4 - 180operated by Nordica
Total6 -

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New German leisure carrier Marabu to launch in 2023. Routes Online. 16 April 2023.
  2. Web site: Attestor Capital unleashes Marabu in Estonia. CH Aviation. 16 April 2023.
  3. Marabu AOC. Xfly_aero. YouTube. 16 April 2023.
  4. Web site: Flight history for aircraft ES-MBU - 15 April 2023 . flightradar24.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20230417112032/https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/es-mbu . 2023-04-17 .
  5. Web site: Thor . Ingo . 2023-06-26 . Befreiungsschlag? Mallorca-Pannenflieger Marabu setzt Jets von anderen Airlines ein . 2024-01-25 . Mallorca Magazin . de.
  6. Web site: 2023-06-07 . Verspätung, Stornierung, Überbuchung: Die Rechte der Fluggäste . 2024-01-25 . BR24 . de.
  7. Web site: Horch . Wolfgang . 2023-06-07 . Marabu: Nach Chaos an Flughäfen – Airline reagiert . 2024-01-25 . www.abendblatt.de . de.
  8. Web site: 2023-01-20 . Marabu will Fehlstart ausbügeln . 2024-01-25 . www.touristik-aktuell.de . de.
  9. Web site: Destinations. Marabu. 16 April 2023.
  10. Web site: Marabu names further airports for the flight start. 14 April 2023 . Aviation Direct. 16 April 2023.
  11. Web site: Marabu Airlines outlines NS23 network. Aeroroutes. 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. Web site: News . 4 June 2024 .
  16. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240716-dinw24cgn
  17. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240716-dinw24cgn
  18. Web site: Marabu Airlines. Planespotters.net. 24 February 2024.