Marabu
IATA ICAO Callsign
DI MBU MARABU
Founded13 December 2022
Commenced operations15 April 2023
Operating bases
Fleet size7
Parent companyAttestor Capital
HeadquartersTallinn, Estonia
Key people
  • Axel Schefe (CEO)
  • Tony Larsson (COO)
Websiteflymarabu.com

Marabu, styled as marabu, officially "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]

Country City Airport Notes
CroatiaSplitSplit Airport
EgyptHurghadaHurghada International Airport
GermanyDüsseldorfDüsseldorf Airport
FrankfurtFrankfurt Airport
HamburgHamburg AirportHub
Leipzig/HalleLeipzig-Halle Airport
MunichMunich AirportHub
NurembergNuremberg Airport
StuttgartStuttgart Airport
GreeceChaniaChania International Airport
CorfuCorfu International Airport
HeraklionHeraklion International Airport
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 AirportTerminated[12]
OlbiaOlbia Costa Smeralda Airport
Lamezia TermeLamezia Terme International Airport
PortugalFaroFaro Airport
SpainFuerteventuraFuerteventura Airport
Gran CanariaGran Canaria Airport
Jerez de la Frontera Jerez Airport
LanzaroteLanzarote Airport
Malaga Malaga Airport
Palma de MallorcaPalma de Mallorca Airport
Santa Cruz de La PalmaLa Palma Airport
TenerifeTenerife-South Airport

Fleet

Marabu Airbus A320neo

As of July 2023, the Marabu fleet consists of the following aircraft, most of which are leased from and operated by other carriers:[13]

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 1 — 180 operated by Heston Airlines
Airbus A320neo 4 — 180 2 operated by Nordica
Airbus A321-200 2 — 220 operated by Heston Airlines
Total 7 —

References

  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. ↑ "ES-MBU flight history - 15 April 2023".
  5. ↑ mallorcamagazin.com (German) 26 June 2023
  6. ↑ br.de (German) 7 June 2023
  7. ↑ abendblatt.de - "New airline Marabu responds to problems in Fuhlsbüttel" (German) 7 June 2023
  8. ↑ "Marabu wants to make up for bad start".
  9. ↑ "Destinations". Marabu. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Marabu names further airports for the flight start". Aviation Direct. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Marabu Airlines outlines NS23 network". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  12. ↑ https://www.touristik-aktuell.de/nachrichten/news/datum////marabu-will-fehlstart-ausbuegeln/
  13. ↑ "Marabu Airlines". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 2 July 2023.

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