Press release

For HOCHTIEF, Duesseldorf airport represents an important step towards worldwide airport manager

Essen
21.11.1997

"Airport management is a growth market in which we want to play a major role." This statement was made today during a press conference in Essen by Dr. Wolfhard Leichnitz, member of the HOCHTIEF Executive Board, adding that for HOCHTIEF, Duesseldorf airport represented an important step towards a worldwide operating airport manager. Together with the City of Duesseldorf HOCHTIEF wants to reinstate the airport in the position it occupied before it was damaged by fire.

The offer of HOCHTIEF carefully analyses all areas of operation of Duesseldorf airport and proposes improvements. These include among others maximising the economic viability of the existing building design. But above all, proposals for a capacity enhancement of air traffic have been submitted. Commercial exploitation too is planned to be substantially expanded, for instance with the increase in shopping and conferencing possibilities, this being an area with considerable pent-up demand.

Considering the declaration of interest for the privatisation of the Berlin Brandenburg International airport (BBI) submitted on Monday, Dr. Leichnitz explained: "For some considerable time now we have prepared ourselves quite systematically in view of the establishment of a competitive consortium with big powerful companies such as ABB, Siemens, and Flughafen Frankfurt Main AG (FAG)."

(Translation)