A new airline coming to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will offer Twin Cities travelers their only nonstop service to Germany, the European Union's most populous nation.

Condor Airlines will fly between the Twin Cities and Frankfurt on Mondays and Thursdays, with one departure and one arrival each day, starting June 26, the Frankfurt-based airline announced Friday.

The airline released sample one-way fares ranging from $530 to $1,400, depending on class. Flights can now be booked at condor.com.

Condor will fly Boeing 767-300s in and out of the Twin Cities at Terminal 2, previously known as the Humphrey terminal.

"With the new nonstop connection from Minneapolis to Frankfurt, Condor offers the easiest, fastest and most comfortable opportunity to visit Central Europe," Ralf Tecktentrup, Condor Airlines CEO, said in a statement.

Jeff Hamiel, executive director and CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, added that Twin Cities travelers will see flying into Frankfurt as "another option for [those] wishing to connect to other European cities."

Condor could benefit from the strong German ethnic identification in Minnesota and elsewhere in the Upper Midwest. German ancestry is the leading ethnicity in Minnesota, about 38 percent, and in the Twin Cities area, roughly 32 percent. It is also the leading ethnicity across most of the northern tier of states.

Once launched, Frankfurt will be the fifth European city with direct air service from MSP. The others are Amsterdam, London, Paris and Reykjavik, Iceland.

Condor operates flights out of six other U.S. airports: Baltimore-Washington, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Seattle, Fairbanks and Anchorage.

The 57-year-old airline carries about 7 million passengers annually to 75 destinations around the world.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482