Court of Auditors’ criticism of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG: Greens criticise Saxony’s haphazard Finance Minister

Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar: Zum deutschen Artikel.

At the presentation of the “Annual Report 2026 – Volume I” on 18 June, the State Audit Office did not merely level a clear-cut, sweeping criticism of the Free State of Saxony’s financial management. It also painted a sobering picture of Saxony’s airport operations. In fact, this has been obvious to critics of airport policy for years. Yet for years, Saxony’s finance ministers in particular have simply accepted the mounting deficits of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AS and spent millions from tax revenues to cover the shortfall.

A deficit resulting from the mismanagement of Saxony’s two airports, as the Court of Auditors’ report dryly notes: “The potential total capacity of both airports is 7 million passengers per year, or 3.5 million passengers per airport. For years – that is, even before the COVID-19 pandemic – utilisation at both airports has fallen significantly short of this capacity. In 2024, passenger utilisation at FHD was only around 25 per cent of capacity, whilst at FLH it stood at around 63 per cent.

The lack of capacity utilisation has economic consequences. The MFAG group of companies has consistently reported negative annual results. Furthermore, depreciation is no longer being covered, even on a pro rata basis, by operating activities. Since 2023, MFAG has also been incurring operating losses. This means that even if depreciation on fixed assets were disregarded, the company’s result would still be negative.”

Between 2018 and 2024 alone, Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (MFAG) incurred losses of 232 million euros. Further support payments totalling 168 million euros are planned for the years 2024 to 2030. Only then are Saxony’s subsidies for the airport company set to fall to zero, according to Saxony’s Finance Minister Christian Piwarz.

Franziska Schubert: Saxony has no plan

“With a 77.29 per cent stake, the Free State of Saxony is the largest shareholder and principal partner of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG. The audit findings of the Court of Auditors confirm what we in the Alliance 90/The Greens have been criticising for years. The Ministry of Finance confines itself to the passive role of a capital provider and behaves like a silent partner. Transferring money: Yes! Shaping and steering: Not a chance!”, says Franziska Schubert, Chair and finance spokesperson for the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group in the Saxon State Parliament, commenting on the generous role the Saxon Ministry of Finance has played for years.

“To this day, the Ministry of Finance has no strategy for Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG and its two airports: there is no clear answer as to what the two airport sites are supposed to achieve and are capable of achieving. Nevertheless, taxpayers’ money flows in year after year – without a plan, without conditions, without consequences.”

And time is running out. A few cost-cutting measures across the board will not be enough to get the airport company into the black. This requires more drastic decisions, which ultimately also raise the question for the Free State: what role are the two airports actually supposed to play in future? And how can they become profitable?

Meanwhile, the planned further expansion of Leipzig/Halle Airport, costing at least 500 million euros, still looms on the horizon; whilst this would represent an increase in capacity, but not necessarily a step away from the persistent losses, which have a great deal to do with the far too low take-off and landing charges at LEJ.

“What the Court of Auditors has documented is mismanagement through inaction,” states Franziska Schubert. “The interests of the Free State – and thus of everyone in Saxony – were not seriously represented on the supervisory boards of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG. This is a lack of direction at the expense of taxpayers. I call on the state government to adopt a clear shareholder strategy and to actively fulfil its role as a shareholder.”