The supervisory board of the Central German Airports Group clearly underlined its commitment to continue pursuing the successful course of the past at today’s meeting at Leipzig/Halle Airport. This has enabled one of the largest growth sectors – logistics – to become an established industry at Leipzig/Halle and has made Dresden Airport with its attractive services a major factor in the passenger air traffic sector in an enlarged Europe. Many travellers from Poland and the Czech Republic now use the airport.

This clear commitment to continue efforts to attract more companies to the region and thereby create new jobs was backed up by a statement that the supervisory board supported further investments in the air traffic infrastructure in order to provide the necessary conditions for companies to set up in business in the area. During its meeting, the supervisory board specifically welcomed the opening of the DHL air hub in Leipzig/Halle last week and the close partnership at Dresden Airport with the local aircraft industry. It added that the air traffic infrastructure could only attract new jobs and bring purchasing power to the Central German region by cooperating with partners of this kind. The arrival of DHL alone would create up to 10,000 new jobs by the year 2012, it said, and had brought purchasing power to the tune of € 10 million to the region. The board also added that the expansion of passenger air traffic was part of its growth strategy, as this would particularly promote business and increase people’s level of mobility.

But the board did not neglect the interests of people living near the airports and stressed that any expansion plans should be drawn up in a manner that takes into consideration both local people and the environment. The board pointed out that the noise protection measures already exceeded the legal requirements and set an example for Germany and the rest of Europe. It added that the regulating authorities had already done a great deal to satisfy the interests of local people by imposing conditions and placing restrictions on aircraft movements in the past.

“As the airports continue to expand, the advantages and disadvantages must be weighed up against each other. But we dare not accept a situation where the whole region has to forego economic growth in order to avoid imposing certain restrictions on a few individuals,” said Markus Kopp, CEO at the Central German Airports Group. He continued: “Over the past 15 years we have managed to develop our airports in an exemplary fashion and create an outstanding niche in the market. DHL in Leipzig/Halle is a huge success story. But we cannot now sit back on our laurels. Taking into account the need for the region to catch up and exploit its potential, we must seek to attract other companies in the air traffic sector. The motto of “stagnation is a step backwards” applies to this sector as much as any other!”

The further 7,000-8,000 jobs that have been mentioned in the logistics sector can only be created if internationally competitive production conditions are available. The supervisory board particularly stressed that any restrictions on operations beyond the level introduced in the past would be counterproductive and could jeopardize the opportunities of the whole region. The air freight sector urgently requires unrestricted 24-hour operations, it said.

The following persons are members of the supervisory board of the Central German Airports Group:

• Willi Hermsen, Airport director (retired), (Chairman)
• Karl-Heinz Biesold, Workers’ representative, ver.di trade union (Deputy Chairman)
• Dr. Karl-Heinz Daehre, Minister for Regional Development and Transport in the State of Saxony-Anhalt (Deputy Chairman)
• Jens Bullerjahn, Minister of Finance in the State of Saxony-Anhalt
• Dirk Hilbert, Deputy Mayor, City of Dresden
• Burkhard Jung, Mayor of the City of Leipzig
• Thomas Jurk, Minister, Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour
• Dietmar Kastner, Former Managing Director of REWE Pauschaltouristik
• Klaus Laepple, President, Association of German Tour Operators and Travel Agencies
• Ralf Landgraf, Workers’ representative
• Jörg Päge, Workers’ representative
• Dagmar Szabados, Mayor of the City of Halle
• Roland Teichmann, Workers‘ representative
• Frank Vollbrecht, Workers‘ representative