Frankfurt-Hahn Airport is expected to continue operating. It has been sold to Swift Conjoy GmbH, although the purchase remains subject to contractual conditions. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Frankfurt-Hahn Airport is expected to continue operating. It has been sold to Swift Conjoy GmbH, although the purchase remains subject to contractual conditions.  (Photo: Shutterstock)

Swift Conjoy GmbH is set to buy the assets of the insolvent Frankfurt-Hahn airport, which was declared bankrupt last October. The new owner promises to keep the staff and even recruit new employees.

Less than 150km from Luxembourg, the Frankfurt-Hahn airport, which attracts many passengers from the grand duchy and the greater region, is opening up to new prospects. It has been sold to Frankfurt-based Swift Conjoy GmbH, according to a spokesperson for the insolvency administrator . The amount of the acquisition was not disclosed.

The airport, popular for being the base for low-cost airline Ryanair until the summer of 2020,

It had been built on a former US military airfield and was previously controlled by the majority of Rhineland-Palatinate. In 2017, the state transferred its 82.5% stake to the Chinese HNA airport group, with the remaining 17.5% still held by the state of Hesse. It welcomed 1.5 million passengers in 2019, prior to the covid-19 pandemic, and handled more than 170,000 tonnes of freight via its cargo business.

New owner, new investments

Since the bankruptcy, Frankfurt-Hahn airport has managed to continue some form of operations following a reorganisation, while takeover offers were analysed.

Insolvency administrator Jan Markus Plathner in a press statement published on 30 June explains that “until the contractual conditions are met, flight operations will continue under the insolvency proceedings, followed by the purchaser. Due to the strong demand and the successful implementation of various measures, the airport is operating again economically stable both in passenger and cargo traffic.”

The sale to Swift Conjoy GmbH is still subject to various contractual conditions. The future owner said that they will keep all employees--430 according to previous information--and even plans to invest in transport as well as freight and recruit new people.

the sale is an “asset deal”. The assets are transferred to the new owners, who take over a debt-free airport. The former shareholders are then no longer owners and, like the creditors, remain in the insolvency proceedings, which the insolvency administrator is pursuing.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.

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