Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (MFAG), operator of Leipzig/Halle and Dresden airports, has successfully concluded the comprehensive restructuring of its group of companies. This measure was completed six months ahead of the originally projected schedule. The restructuring was overseen by Michael Hengstmann, a partner at Executive Interim Partners (EIP), a specialist in C-level interim management services.
Mr Hengstmann served as a board member and Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) of MFAG as part of this mandate from July 2024. His remit included the economic stabilisation of the company, ensuring its financing capability, and creating the conditions for sustainable operational development and the safeguarding of the two airports. His mandate ended on 3 July 2026 after the central restructuring objectives were achieved.
The restructured financial results of MFAG show a substantial improvement. After a threatened liquidity gap of EUR 145 million and a negative annual result of approximately EUR 53.5 million were forecast for the 2024 financial year, the group of companies already achieved a positive result of EUR 10.5 million in 2025. Available liquidity amounted to approximately EUR 123 million as at 31 December 2025. For the current 2026 financial year, a further increase in the annual result is targeted, irrespective of market conditions.
A crucial step towards long-term financing security was the refinancing in August 2024 by a banking consortium totalling EUR 339 million. In addition, the second amendment to the syndicated loan agreement for EUR 238 million was executed, securing MFAG's financing until 2038. The Minister Presidents of the Free State of Saxony and the State of Saxony-Anhalt, Michael Kretschmer and Sven Schulze, had already pledged support for MFAG on 30 January 2026 in a joint declaration through the partial reimbursement of sovereign non-economic costs amounting to EUR 98 million until 2030.
The provisional restructuring completion certificate within the framework of the IDW S6 procedure, issued by the restructuring consultant KPMG, confirms the successful completion of central restructuring measures and enabled the earlier termination of the restructuring. Michael Hengstmann emphasised that the combination of short-term agility and a long-term viable perspective was crucial for success. He further explained that the success was the result of consistent implementation, close coordination, and comprehensive support from shareholders, banks, supervisory board committees, and MFAG's internal stakeholders.
As part of his mandate, Michael Hengstmann supported MFAG in developing and implementing the restructuring concept, refinancing, and personnel restructuring. He also temporarily assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO). To sustainably secure the success of the restructuring, new operating concepts were developed for the Leipzig/Halle and Dresden locations, and a steering committee was implemented for ongoing transformation.
Saxony's Finance Minister Christian Piwarz and Saxony-Anhalt's Finance Minister Michael Richter, both Deputy Chairmen of MFAG's Supervisory Board, acknowledged Mr Hengstmann's commitment and his decisive role in the restructuring, operational turnaround, and refinancing, which created the basis for stable airport development. Christian Piwarz highlighted that Hengstmann is handing over an economically strengthened company with secured bank financing until 2038, whose positive annual result is expected to improve further in 2026. Michael Richter affirmed that through Hengstmann's actions, MFAG was stabilised from an existentially difficult situation and now possesses sufficient liquidity and long-term secured financing.
