Several major airports within Germany, including Frankfurt, Hanover and Düsseldorf, are at least privately owned, with there having been a public stock market float in the case of Frankfurt.
Privatisation did not really take off after the government opted for such a programme as long ago as 1982, and most airports continue to be owned by a mixture of state, county and city authorities.
Now a minority party in the Bavarian parliament, the FDP ('Freie Demokratische Partei', Free Democratic Party), which promotes free markets and privatisation, is pushing for the privatisation of Munich Airport – Germany’s second busiest. The proceeds are to be used to set up a venture capital fund and to end the impasse on a third runway, which has been locked for five years.
But it may take more than that to unravel this runway blockade and give Munich the infrastructure it needs.
