Marabu Airlines

The departure board says Condor, an A320neo with “Marabu” titles is waiting at the gate – and an Estonian registration sits on the tail. This very mix is what makes Marabu Airlines interesting for spotters. The young leisure airline has only existed since 2023, flies almost exclusively from Germany and yet legally belongs in Estonia. Here you learn how to assign Marabu reliably, how to recognize its aircraft and where to catch them best.

Marabu Airlines at a glance

Marabu Airlines is a leisure airline from the orbit of Condor. The company was founded at the end of 2022 in Tallinn, and Estonian authorities issued the operating certificate. Behind the founding stands the financial investor Attestor, which got involved with Condor in 2021. On April 15, 2023 the first flight took off – from Munich to Palma de Mallorca, with an Airbus A320neo that had previously been in service with India’s IndiGo.

The division of labor is clearly regulated: Marabu steers flight operations itself from Tallinn, where the operational headquarters with operations control is located. Commercially, Condor in Frankfurt is responsible for the business – that is, sales, prices and network. Marabu flights are therefore usually booked via Condor, and both airlines are linked by a codeshare partnership.

Many routes that Marabu serves today were previously flown by Condor itself. A nice detail for data fans: on such routes, Marabu flight numbers often adopt the last three digits of the former Condor flights. Since February 2026 the airline has been led by Paul Fabian, who previously headed flight operations.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code DI: appears in the flight number on the ticket, departure board and in schedules.
• ICAO code MBU: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign MARABU: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

With Marabu in particular, the difference between flight number and callsign is worth knowing. Because you book the trip via Condor, you see a Condor codeshare number on booking portals and some displays. The tracker, on the other hand, shows MBU – and that is the code of the airline that actually operates the flight. Even the very first flight ran under the callsign MBU6508. The article Callsign and flight number: the difference explains more, and you can find the basics of the codes under IATA and ICAO codes explained.

Why Estonia? The ES- registration explained

Marabu is a nice example of how an airline’s home market and country of registration don’t have to match. The company Marabu Airlines OÜ is based in Tallinn, flies under EASA rules with an Estonian certificate, and the aircraft are registered in Estonia. That is why ES- – Estonia’s country prefix – appears on the tail. The first aircraft fittingly carried the registration ES-MBU, that is, the airline’s ICAO code.

For spotters this is a strong identifying feature: at German airports, ES- registrations are otherwise rather rare. If you see an ES- on an A320neo among leisure airlines, Marabu is a hot candidate. You can find which prefixes belong to which country in the overview Country identifiers on aircraft, and how to read a registration in general is explained in Understanding aircraft registrations.

The arrangement was controversial from the start. The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit criticized that the Estonian airline would circumvent German social and collective bargaining standards. For you as a spotter that changes nothing about the sighting – but it explains why Marabu is often discussed in German media in connection with Condor.

The fleet: Airbus A320neo

Marabu relies on a uniform fleet. According to its own fleet overview, the airline operates twelve Airbus A320neos as of 2026, each with 180 seats. For 2027 Marabu has announced two more aircraft of this type, so the fleet will grow to 14 aircraft. The manufacturer is Airbus.

Type	Number	Seats	Status	Spotter note
Airbus A320neo	12	180	own fleet, as of 2026	Large engines, sharklets, ES- registration
Airbus A320neo	2 more	180	announced for 2027	Growth to 14 aircraft
Airbus A321	2	–	leased from Heston Airlines in 2023	Former wet lease, no longer in service
Boeing 737-800	2	–	leased from KlasJet in 2024	Former wet lease for Munich
Airbus A320	2	–	leased from Bul Air in 2026	Wet-lease partner, as of spring 2026

The first A320neos came in 2023 as used aircraft from IndiGo. Further A320neos are provided by the lessor CDB Aviation, among others. In 2026 the fleet also gets a refreshed cabin with blue carpets and gray leather-look seat covers.

The numbers show how small the fleet still is. That makes Marabu attractive for collectors: with a manageable number of registrations, you can actually set yourself the goal of catching every aircraft once.

Wet lease: when MBU flies but no Marabu jet shows up

The 2023 start was bumpy. There were technical problems, cabin crew was missing, and delays of up to two days occurred. Marabu bridged the gaps with aircraft from other airlines including crew – that is, on a so-called wet lease. In 2023, two Airbus A321s from Heston Airlines flew for Marabu, and in 2024 two Boeing 737-800s from KlasJet were added for the summer in Munich. As of spring 2026, Bul Air, the charter brand of Bulgaria Air, is also a wet-lease partner with two Airbus A320s.

For spotters, such deployments are real treats. A third-party aircraft in a different livery under the MBU callsign shows up only for a time and is much rarer in the logbook than the regular A320neo. How wet lease works and why airlines resort to it is explained in the article Wet lease explained.

How to recognize Marabu

The type helps you fastest: in its own fleet, Marabu flies only the A320neo. You recognize the new generation by the clearly larger, almost round engines and the upward-swept sharklets at the wing tips. The difference from the older first-generation A320 is explained in the type article on the A320neo; if you are generally unsure, Telling Airbus and Boeing apart helps.

The airline’s own aircraft carry the brand name “Marabu” on the fuselage, and Condor’s colorful cross stripes are missing. The name fits the picture, by the way: like the condor, the marabou is a large bird, an African stork. Added to that is the ES- registration on the tail, which you rarely see at German leisure airports.

Spotting Marabu in Germany

Marabu has restructured its stations several times since the start. In 2023 the airline began with bases in Hamburg and Munich. Munich has since been dropped, while Nuremberg was added in 2024 and Leipzig/Halle in 2025. As of 2026 Marabu names Hamburg, Nuremberg and Leipzig/Halle as departure airports. The airline continually reviews its base strategy and wants to stay flexible with three to four core bases – so the network may shift again.

• Hamburg: Marabu has been active here since 2023, and in 2026 Agadir, La Palma, Preveza and Trieste, among others, were added. Good spots are the observation deck at Hamburg Airport and the Affenfelsen (monkey rock). You can find more about the airport at Hamburg Airport.
• Nuremberg: A base since 2024; for summer 2027 Marabu has announced new destinations from here such as Lamezia Terme and Preveza. You can photograph from the Nuremberg observation deck; information about the airport is at Nuremberg Airport.
• Leipzig/Halle: On board since 2025. Besides Marabu the place is worthwhile because of the heavy cargo traffic. Tips are provided by the Leipzig/Halle observation deck and the page on Leipzig/Halle Airport.

The rhythm is typical for leisure airlines: in the morning the based aircraft depart for the vacation destinations, and at midday and in the afternoon they come back. On weekends during the holiday season the most is going on. In the German vacation market you often meet Marabu alongside Condor, TUIfly, SundAir and Eurowings.

Before every outing it is worth looking at the wind and the runway direction in use: Hamburg, Nuremberg and Leipzig have different runway layouts, and the right spot depends on which direction takeoffs go. How to judge this is shown in the guide to the runway direction in use at airports. If you are new to this, Plane spotting for beginners helps you get started.

Common mix-ups

• Logging Marabu as Condor – the booking runs through Condor, but Marabu does the flying. Callsign and registration decide.
• Thinking ES- is a guest aircraft from the Baltics – at German leisure airports, behind an ES- A320neo there is usually Marabu.
• Mixing up DI and DE – DI is Marabu, DE is Condor.
• Thinking every MBU flight is an A320neo – on wet lease, A320s, A321s or 737-800s of other operators also show up.
• Assuming Munich as a base – the station existed only in the early period.
• Thinking Marabu is a low-cost airline – Marabu is a leisure airline that uses Condor’s network and sales.

Conclusion

Marabu Airlines is a small, young airline with an unusual setup: Estonian company, German departure airports, sales via Condor. That is exactly what makes it appealing for spotters. The uniform A320neo fleet is manageable, the ES- registrations stand out at German airports, and occasional wet-lease deployments provide surprises. If you note callsign and registration carefully, you reliably separate Marabu from Condor.