The insolvent Hunsrück Airport Hahn has a new owner: the Nürburgring racetrack. According to information from the German Press Agency on Friday, a notarial contract for a purchase price of around 20 million euros was recently signed. The money is already in a so-called escrow account. The Ring holding company NR Holding, headed by the Russian Viktor Charitonin, has thus entered the airport. The pharmaceutical entrepreneur is not on any EU sanctions list for Russia, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine. Insolvency administrator Jan Markus Plathner initially did not comment on the sale.
The Federal Ministry of Economics could still examine the sale to the legendary Eifel race track Nürburgring in accordance with the Foreign Trade Act. As early as June 2022, Swift Conjoy GmbH in Frankfurt bought Hahn Airport with a notarized contract as the investor with the highest bid at the time – but according to dpa information, never paid the purchase price. Insolvency administrator Plathner was upset about it. He could possibly claim damages against Swift Conjoy. The Frankfurt company has not responded to several dpa inquiries.
The rather remote Hahn airport is a former US military airport with a checkered history. The only major airport in Rhineland-Palatinate has no rail connection, but a rare and coveted night flight permit. The state of Hesse acquired a 17.5 percent stake in Hahn Airport a long time ago.
The NR Holding had also participated in the bidding process for the airport, which had already gone bankrupt in autumn 2021, but offered less money than Swift Conjoy. Therefore, the Nürburgring did not get a chance at first, but after the Frankfurt company defaulted, it reappeared behind the scenes.
Like Hahn Airport, the racetrack, which was once state-owned and then insolvent, now has a number of economic pillars from motorsport and so-called tourist drives from amateur racing drivers to company events and the legendary Rock am Ring music festival – this year from June 2nd to 4th.
In March 2022, shortly after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a spokesman for the operating company of the almost 100-year-old Nürburgring said: Together with Charitonins Holding, “we stand for bringing people from all over the world together – far removed from their origin, skin color, preferences or religion”. Russians and Ukrainians would also come to the Nürburgring.
At Hahn Airport, the works council was also recently satisfied with flight operations in the midst of insolvency: Plathner and the head of operational Hahn business, Rüdiger Franke, did a good job, they said. The passenger business picked up again significantly after the corona pandemic subsided. The airport is desperately looking for more staff. This Sunday (February 5th) there should be an open day at the Hahn.
