Corendon Airlines 'well prepared' for growth, says chief commercial officer

Corendon Airlines is “well prepared” to carry out its planned growth after upgrading its tech systems and bolstering its teams across key markets, according to the carrier’s chief commercial officer.

 

The airline’s capacity from the UK from April to October 2026 will grow 9% compared with this year, with increased services to Greece being the main driver.

 

Heraklion flights will see a 26% hike, while frequencies to Turkey will also rise.

 

Paul Schwaiger, whose short-term contract at Corendon has been extended to the end of 2026, said the company is in a strong position to account for this expansion after making “a lot of improvements” to its software and IT systems across bookings and revenue management.

 

“We did a lot of research into what the best system would be to use out of the three available and we chose a single inventory system,” he said.

 

“The migration [from the old system] was a big effort across the IT and commercial teams, but everybody is now used to using standardised processes which is super important when you want to grow your business.”

 

More: ’Sleeping giant’ Corendon Airlines targets further growth from UK market

 

He added that recent appointments, including that of Matthew Carpenter as UK country manager in November last year, will be “more important” to the carrier’s growth than the technological advancements.

 

“The commercial team set-up is now very strong and customer-minded and I’m pleased to say the same for the operation side of the business – our onboard crew is very passionate about delivering a good service and good performance,” he said.

 

Schwaiger said a hike operating costs since the pandemic is the biggest challenge facing the airline and aviation sector as a whole, particularly an increase in taxes imposed by governments.

 

“The most pressing issue is the huge cost increase we’ve experienced since the pandemic, especially in terms of government duties and taxes,” he said.

 

“All the trade lobby groups are fighting to keep the costs down but this is something which is very difficult, especially with the German government.”

 

Despite his concerns over costs, Schwaiger is optimistic the airline can look to further scale its operations in future by utilising its three separate flying licences.

 

“We have a Dutch licence, a Turkish licence and a European licence based in Malta. That puts us in a unique position and gives us freedom when it comes to developing new commercial concepts and new schedules,” he said.

 

Schwaiger said Corendon, which has a fleet of 35 aircraft, is projected to carry 10 million passengers this year.