A "No Entrance" sign is pictured at Frankfurt Hahn airport 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Frankfurt, Germany, June 6, 2016. (Photo : Reuters)
A Shanghai-based construction and logistics company is buying a majority share in Frankfurt-Hahn Airport in an effort to boost tourism and trade.
Shanghai Yiqian Trading Co. will have 82.5 percent controlling stake in the Hahn Airport, which has been incurring losses for the past months, reports said.
The airport, located 75 miles west of Frankfurt, is projected to record a loss of $18 million for 2015, after more than $51 million worth of loss in the previous year, according to The Journal of Commerce.
Reuters described the purchase to be within a "low double-digit million euro amount." It noted that the deal solidifies China's objective of "recreating Silk Road trade links between Europe and Asia that have already led to some big-ticket transactions."
For Shanghai Yiqian, this foray would pave the way for enhanced freight links from Germany.
"When it comes to freight, we expect good business from the transportation of food products to Asia," the company's chairman Yu Tao Chou said in a statement.
There has been a growing demand for Western products from China that local producers are unable to meet, and Shanghai Yiqian wants to tap this opportunity by enhancing freight and passenger links from Asia.
Plans are still undisclosed at the moment, but the construction and logistics group said that it is in talks with Yangtze River Express over the possibility of resuming its operations in Frankfurt-Hahn. The Chinese airline halted its operations in the said airport last year.
Frankfurt-Hahn operates 24 hours per day. It used to bank on evening flight ban at Frankfurt airport, but things got sour for the company when traffic started to shrink over the last few years.
"The airport is used mainly by budget airline Ryanair, but the Irish carrier has been cutting back on services from Hahn as its flies to more primary airports," Reuters said. "Passenger numbers at Hahn, 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Frankfurt, dropped to 2.7 million last year from almost 4 million 10 years ago."
