The insolvent Frankfurt Hahn Airport will be taken over by Swift Conjoy GmbH, based in Frankfurt. This was announced on Wednesday (29JUN) by the responsible insolvency administrator, Jan Markus Plathner. Thanks to the deal, several months of uncertainty for the airport's employees and customers end, following the bankruptcy of the previous owner, the Chinese Hainan Group.
Since 31JAN the future of Hahn Airport was at stake. On that day the Chinese owner Hainan Group declared itself insolvent. For the approximately 430 employees, but also the suppliers, service providers and especially airlines that use Hahn regularly, including many charter operators, it was unclear whether the airport located in the scarce industrialized southwest of Germany would continue to exist and proof its importance for commercial aviation, particularly the cargo industry.
24/7/365 – a rare operating permit in Germany
Hahn offers users numerous advantages: many free slots, for instance, price advantages since the place is significantly cheaper for airlines compared to its big neighbor, 130 km distant
Rhine-Main Airport, and Hahn has a 24/7/365 operating permit – a scarce commodity in the German airport landscape.
The new owners, a group consisting of the main investor, the Frankfurt-based Swift Consortium, and its Australian-British partner Conjoy, are taking over the airport free of debt, which means
that Hahn can make a fresh start, independent of old financial burdens. The debts accumulated by the previous management remain with the former owners. The parties have agreed not to disclose the
purchase price. In addition to real estate, the deal also includes the takeover of all assets belonging to the airport, such as vehicles or buildings. Members of the former management team are
under investigation by the relevant public prosecutor's office on charges giving or accepting of undue advantage, and other possible forms of corruption,
Are now the boom years starting?
Insolvency administrator Jan Markus Plathner explains: "We are very pleased that the bidding process has been successfully concluded. Flight operations will continue until the contractual
conditions are met under the insolvency proceedings and then by the acquirer. Due to the thriving demand [for air services] and the successful implementation of different measures, Hahn figures
returned to an economically stable level in passenger traffic and air freight as well."
Tobias Steyer and Martin Mansell, managing directors of SWIFT CONJOY GmbH, said: "We are very pleased to have been awarded the contract in the bidding process and to continue and extensively
expand passenger and cargo flight operations at Hahn. This also includes investments and the creation of new jobs in the region."
So, it seems, that Hahn Airport gets another chance to assert its position in the market.
Heiner Siegmund
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