According to the Volksfreund the creditors of the bankrupt airport will meet next Tuesday and likely approve the dissolution of the purchase agreement, as well as a sale to a new interested party.
It has been an open secret that Jan Markus Plathner, the airport’s insolvency administrator, has already negotiated with new parties. These parties allegedly include the company that runs the Nürburgring, who were already involved in the bidding process for Hahn before it lost out to Swift Conjoy.
The airport filed for insolvency in October 2021, with Plathner starting to search for investors in an international bidding process. Plathner presented Swift Conjoy at the end of June last year. At the time, the insolvency administrator had no doubts about the seriousness of the investors. Nevertheless, Plathner was annoyed by Swift Conjoy’s hesitant behaviour.
Several months later, Swift Conjoy apparently did not transfer the agreed purchase sum. The reasons for this are unknown, but according to the Volksfreund, industry insiders assume that some of the financiers behind the company may have backed out.
Aside from buying the airport, it was assumed that investments of up to 40 millions euros are necessary to maintain flight operations in the long term, making it possible that some financiers realised they won’t be seeing profits any time soon.
In December, the airport’s chief representative Rüdiger Franke agreed that various investments are needed in infrastructure and personnel to grow the numbers of both passenger and cargo, but Hahn Airport has proven that it can be run profitably.
Right now, Hahn airport’s operations will continue in full, with Plathner explaining that further measures and alternatives are being examined. They are expected to be presented to the creditors in Tuesday’s meeting.
