Bremen airport weighs private investors and push for Frankfurt flights

Bremen airport is examining whether to bring in private investors as it tries to close a growing deficit, the chairman of its supervisory board, Kai Stührenberg, said in an interview.

The airport has been under financial pressure, and the possibility of insolvency has not been ruled out. Stührenberg said insolvency was explicitly not excluded, but added that everything was being done to avoid it. High location costs for air transport in Germany, higher kerosene prices, fewer business trips and the airport's small size were given as reasons for the difficult position, according to his account. He also said the company had not been run efficiently in recent years.

Savings targets have been pulled forward. Measures previously expected to take effect by the end of 2028 must now come by the end of 2027, he said. A further two million euros in cuts are planned, which together with existing measures would bring total savings to about six million euros.

Alongside cost reductions, the airport is looking at changing its ownership structure and bringing in private capital. The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is currently the sole shareholder of the operating company, Flughafen Bremen GmbH, whose supervisory board Stührenberg heads.

On the loss of the Frankfurt route, he expressed confidence that it could return. The airport, the state chancellery and business representatives are in talks with Lufthansa, and the airport is dangling possible discounts on its charges as an incentive for the carrier to resume the flights.