East German states cool on Lufthansa push for subsidised hub flights

Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have shown little appetite for Lufthansa's push to have connections to the Frankfurt and Munich hubs underwritten by the state, according to Luftraum Ost.

Saxony has discussed the model with Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, but no specific route has been examined yet. The state points to the size of the subsidies required and the economic risk involved. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is against reviving the arrangement. Supported services that previously ran from Rostock-Laage cost about 1.7 million euros a year on average. They filled only 48 percent of seats on one service and 32 percent on another. The state's economy ministry calls that funding "not target-oriented".

The instrument at issue is the Public Service Obligation, under which authorities can pay for routes they consider necessary. Neither eastern state sees concrete prospects for PSO services at present.