It is true that Condor was generally more successful in what arguably was a slower market to develop over here in Germany. What is not in doubt is that although BEA found a use for unwanted aircraft, tristars and the 707 etc. they were not as successful or profitable in the long term as the dedicated holiday companies.
Remember the following years were a difficult time for the state carriers. BA as it became had a very shaky time and their charter business was by no means the star, neither matching industry growth nor profitability as I remember it. Personally I suspect that the big UK holiday companies, Thomson being the dominant player, were not overly keen to put too much business their way. The big airlines never developed the kind of vertical integration that was the key to growth for the market leaders.
Ultimately just about all the major scheduled carriers got out of charter. You can draw your own conclusions. Interestingly the biggest holiday player in Germany (air berlin) looks increasingly like it also intends to split its business into a scheduled carrier and a charter airline. There is nothing new under the sun.
Last edited by lederhosen; 21st Jul 2011 at 19:23.