Frankfurt-Hahn regional airport, which has been bankrupt since 2021, has found a German buyer. A controversial bid by a Russian investor was rejected.

The region of Hessen, which is one of the airport's shareholders, had been critical of the takeover offer from a Russian businessman and had asked the federal government for alternatives.

Following the bankruptcy of the Frankfurt-Hahn regional airport in 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, a creditors' meeting in February decided against awarding the contract to the Russian businessman and reopened the tender.

In the end, the creditors unanimously decided to sell the airport to the real estate company Triwo AG, which operates several other airports in Germany and is owned by the entrepreneur Peter Adrian, who is also president of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).

RTL

© Picture-Alliance/AFP

The latter indicated that he wanted to keep all of the 400 or so employees, deeming the structure's prospects to be "good."

According to the administrator, the airport is currently "operating without losses thanks to restructuring measures."

Risk to German foreign policy

Viktor Kharitonin, a Russian billionaire who also runs the pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard, which produces the Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik, had initially been a candidate for the takeover.

He is already a shareholder in a nearby motor racing circuit and is not on the European Union's list of people subject to sanctions.

However, his candidacy posed a risk of "damage to Germany's foreign and economic policy," warned an opposition member of parliament, the conservative Sebastian Brehm.

The regional airport of Hahn, which is 200 km from Luxembourg, currently operates about 15 flights a day, mainly from low-cost airlines. It is located about 100 km from Frankfurt, where the country's largest airport hub is located.