Fraport to sell Hahn

FRAPORT is considering selling its 65 per cent stake in Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, which specialises in budget and cargo airlines, to the local state government.

The airport operator had attempted to levy a €3 (US$4) per-passenger charge as part of a widespread strategy to make the airport profitable. However, its primary customer, Ryanair, which accounts for 95 per cent of its traffic threatened not to increase the number of its planes at Hahn to 18 by 2013 from 11 because it did not want to pass on the extra cost to its passengers.

“It’s a good opportunity for Fraport to exit gracefully,” said Per-Ola Hellgren, an analyst at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg. “There was very little hope of Hahn ever performing, given there was only one major customer.”