Frankfurt-Hahn Airport: Fraport Transfers its S...

FRANKFURT, Germany, February 3 /PRNewswire/ --

    - Schulte: "Fraport Freed From Hahn's Financial Obligations" - Hering: 
"Jobs and Further Development Secured"



    With retroactive effect to January 1, 2009, the State of
Rhineland-Palatinate is taking over all of Fraport AG's shares in Flughafen
Frankfurt Hahn GmbH (FFHG). With 65 percent, Fraport was the majority
shareholder in Frankfurt-Hahn Airport in the Hunsrück region until the end of
last year; the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse each held 17.5
percent of the shares.



    Both sides agreed today on a symbolic purchase price of EUR1.
This transaction ends all existing financial obligations of Fraport AG, in
particular the obligation of offsetting losses and obligations under existing
loan agreements of FFHG. Dr. Stefan Schulte, vice chairman of Fraport AG and
supervisory board chairman of FFHG, emphasized: "As a stock-listed group,
decisive criteria for Fraport is the earning power of its subsidiaries and
associated companies. We cannot afford loss-making operations permanently.
Without implementation of our concept presented for Hahn's future, we are
unable to continue operations at this location. Another decisive reason for
our pull-out was that we would immediately cease having to bear any further
losses; in view of our contract commitments until the year 2024, these would
have been a great burden for us."



    In order to improve the airport's negative results, Fraport
had presented a concept for the future in the past few months. This included
introduction of the so-called "Hahn Taler", an airport development fee to be
paid by the passenger to contribute to the further development of Hahn
Airport in the future. Schulte said that the implementation of the concept
was an essential prerequisite for FFHG to make Hahn profitable.



    Hahn's main customer, the Irish carrier Ryanair, had announced
that if the airport development fee was introduced it would withdraw a
considerable part of its fleet from Hahn Airport already by the summer
timetable and even leave the airport completely later. Rhineland-Palatinate
transportation minister Hendrik Hering commented: "The reaction signalized by
Ryanair would have had disastrous consequences for the region's labor market.
This would have jeopardized about 6,000 jobs immediately. We couldn't allow
this to happen and therefore decided to take over Fraport AG's shares in
FFHG. Frankfurt-Hahn Airport has enormous development and performance
potential. We will use this potential to make the airport profitable."



    The State of Rhineland-Palatinate will be responsible for
managing the airport in the Hunsrück region in the future. However, both
partners will continue to rely on cooperation. They underscore that the close
cooperation between Frankfurt and Frankfurt-Hahn airports will remain
unchanged. Changes in the circle of shareholders will not have any negative
impact on Hahn's customers and passengers.



    Both Dr. Schulte and Hering emphasized that Frankfurt-Hahn
Airport is an important conversion project. During the past eight years,
passenger figures at the Hunsrück airport rose from 400,000 to recently
nearly 4 million per year. In terms of cargo traffic, the airport is now one 
of the most important hubs in Germany. Overall, between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs 
have been created in this structurally weak region over the years.



    Hering thanked Fraport for its extraordinary commitment at
Hahn Airport during the past decade. "Without Fraport, the airport would not
have developed into what it is today."



    
    For Further information, Please Contact:

    Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
    Robert A. Payne, B.A.A. - Manager International Press
    Press Office (Dept. UKM-PS), Corporate Communications (UKM)
    60547 Frankfurt am Main, Federal Republic of Germany
    Tel.: [phone]; Fax: [phone];
    E-mail: [e-mail]; Internet: http://www.fraport.com