Lufthansa seeks deal with Thomas Cook's Condor - sources

* Lufthansa seeks cooperation or takeover - sources

* Talks have been ongoing since at least January - sources

* Any takeover would be for symbolic price - sources

* Thomas Cook (Xetra: A0MR3W - news) shares up 2.2 pct (Adds Thomas Cook shares)

By Peter Maushagen

FRANKFURT, April 22 (Reuters) - Lufthansa is seeking a partnership with, or a complete takeover, of holiday airline Condor to further expand its low-cost Eurowings business, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Talks with Condor parent Thomas Cook have been going on since at least January, they said.

Lufthansa, Condor and Thomas Cook all declined to comment.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Thomas Cook gained on the news and were up 2.2 percent at 0901 GMT. Lufthansa shares were unchanged.

Lufthansa launched Eurowings last year in a fresh attempt to crack the low-cost market and compete with the likes of Ryanair and easyJet.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) has said it aims to use Eurowings to bundle various subsidiaries and brands, and sources recently told Reuters that it was also eyeing Scandinavian carrier SAS (LSE: 0O1W.L - news) and Brussels Airlines.

Talks with Thomas Cook could result in a marketing cooperation that would allow Lufthansa to buy capacity on Condor's 46 aircraft, sources told Reuters.

One option is also that Lufthansa could acquire a minority stake in Condor, or take over the airline completely.

"Due to Condor's 800 million euros in debt that Lufthansa would probably have to take on, too, a takeover would involve only a symbolic price," one of the sources said.

Also, Condor's long-haul fleet of Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) 767 aircraft would need to be renewed soon, they said. (Additional reporting by Paul Sandle in London; writing by Maria Sheahan; editing by Christoph Steitz and David Clarke)