Official opening of the ninth Ryanair airport in Germany


"The regional government of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt would like to warmly welcome you, Mr O'Leary. The fact that you have come to Cochstedt in person is a particular honour for me and I see this as a sign that you have attached great importance to this airport. Today's official opening of the airport is another milestone for the economic development in the region and in the federal state as a whole. The perseverance shown by the state during the privatisation of Cochstedt really has been worth while. The state government would like to wish Ryanair and the airport all the best and hope that this is merely the first chapter in another success story."

That is what Minister of economic affairs Dr Reiner Haseloff said today at the press conference for the official opening of the ninth Ryanair airport in Germany, which was also attended by Ryanair Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary, one of the two airport owners, Peter Sølbeck, and Uwe Hädicke, Managing Director of Flughafengesellschaft Magdeburg-Cochstedt mbH. The Ryanair boss flew from Dublin to Cochstedt in a Boeing 737 in order to answer questions from journalists and give a short presentation, exactly one week before the four new Ryanair international connections from Airport Magdeburg-Cochstedt start making their way to Spain on 30th March 2011.

According to information from the company, around € 2.5m has been invested into the airport between its purchase and the takeover of the Danish company Airport Development A/S in March 2010 and the first flight on 30th March 2011. 31 people are currently employed at the airport, and this number will be increased to 50 by the summer of 2011.