A major security company for German airports is in financial trouble. ESA Luftsicherheit & Service GmbH has filed for bankruptcy, which could result in bottlenecks at at least six airports in Germany.

Insolvency proceedings initiated

A few days ago, the District Court of Charlottenburg opened preliminary insolvency proceedings against ESA Luftsicherheit & Service GmbH and appointed lawyer Sebastian Laboga as the preliminary insolvency administrator. In addition to this company, ESA Security Aviation GmbH & Co. KG is also affected. The parent company ESA Luftsicherheit GmbH had to file for insolvency back in December 2020.

Impact on airports in the north and south

The ESA group of companies was responsible for security checks at several German airports, including Dortmund, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Lübeck, Rostock-Laage, Sylt and Friedrichshafen. Due to financial difficulties, the company had already lost some contracts last year.

Economic experts see the strong competition in the industry as one of the main causes of the crisis. Low offer prices for the awarding of security services led to high cost pressure, which ultimately led to wage delays and a drop in orders. Airports such as Weeze, Berlin-Brandenburg, Dresden, Erfurt and Frankfurt-Hahn had already terminated their cooperation with the ESA Group in 2024.

Consequences for employees and airports

For the employees of ESA Luftsicherheit & Service GmbH, the insolvency means financial uncertainty. Currently, the insolvency money from the Federal Employment Agency is temporarily securing their wages. At Rostock-Laage Airport in particular, there are concerns as to whether sufficient staff will be available for upcoming flights. Airport Managing Director Dominik Wiehage had already informed the Ministry of Transport of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania about the situation at the end of 2024, but there has been no official response so far.

The provisional insolvency administrator Laboga explained that business operations should continue for the time being. Nevertheless, some airports could be confronted with bottlenecks at security checkpoints in the short term. One possible solution could be to re-award the affected contracts in the near future.