Today’s decision of the Federal Administrative Court paves the way for Leipzig/Halle Airport developing into an airfreight hub.

Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG welcomes Federal Administrative Court’s decision
Decision creates the legal certainty required for the airport’s development into an international cargo hub
Volkmar Stein, President and CEO of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG: »The Court’s decision is an important step in developing Leipzig/Halle into an international hub. The decision confirms the strategy followed by the shareholders and the airport management. Early in the 1990s it all started with the vision of making Leipzig/Halle Airport one of the major logistics locations worldwide. Today, we have got a good bit further in attaining this goal.«

Decision paves the way for further development
Eric Malitzke, Managing Director of Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH: »We gladly accept today’s decision of the Federal Administrative Court confirming development of Leipzig/Halle Airport. The airport is now providing the planning and investment certainty required for becoming a major airfreight hub and for making the Leipzig/Halle region a competitive logistics location of European significance. With DHL settling at the airport, a first step has been made.«

Impact of possible night flight restrictions
The decision of the Federal Administrative Court does not affect development of Leipzig/Halle Airport into an airfreight hub in this respect. The Regional Council (Regierungspräsidium Leipzig) shall have to decide to which extent scheduled and charter flights are necessarily to be operated during the night. At present, about 10% of all aircraft movements, tourist flights in particular, are being handled at Leipzig/Halle Airport during night hours.
In the view of Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH, there is no doubt that scheduled and charter flights must be handled at least outside the so-called core hours between 00:00 and 05:00 in order to accommodate passenger and air transport needs.

Runway South and associated apron area to be opened in July 2007
As part of the development work, Runway South is being built. The 3,600-metre runway runs parallel to the existing Runway North, which also has a length of 3,600 metres. A 53-hectare apron is directly linked to Runway South. Both, runway and apron will be opened in July 2007.
About 350 million euros will be invested in the construction of the new Runway South, including noise protection measures.

2008: Leipzig/Halle to become European DHL hub
Beginning in 2008, DHL, the Express subsidiary of Deutsche Post World Net, will use Leipzig/Halle as its European hub with about 50 aircraft per day. In addition to Wilmington in the U.S. and Hong Kong in Asia, Leipzig/Halle will be the third major airfreight hub in the global DHL network.
Thanks to Deutsche Post World Net and DHL investing 300 million euros in the location, about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created by 2012.

The Central German Airports Group, a publicly owned undertaking, develops airports in the Halle/Leipzig/Dresden region with a view to future trends and commercial requirements. Subsidiaries of the group include Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH, Flughafen Dresden GmbH, PortGround GmbH and EasternAirCargo GmbH. Total turnover in 2005 was €83.1 millions. The group handled 74,206 aircraft movements, 3.9 million passengers and 22,646 tonnes of freight. While the number of direct employees and trainees is 852, the Central German Airports Group provides jobs for approximately 4,500 people in a number of undertakings and agencies.