While others are still going to school, Adem K. is trying his hand at big businesses. At the beginning of the year he hit the headlines with the announcement that he wanted to found a new airline: Bavarian Airlines. Business travelers should be able to set off from Munich to destinations in Germany and Europe – like with Lufthansa, only better. Business partners are now accusing Adem K. of fraud, a consultant says he was stuck with invoices for several tens of thousands of euros, and the new airline has not yet been entered in the commercial register – which is perhaps not surprising: apparently the young entrepreneur Adem K. is not even of legal age . At the time of the alleged founding of the airline he was said to have been just 15 years old.
Now the fraud case could apparently expand significantly. Adem K. may also be a central figure behind the failed sale of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. Lay that Research by the broadcaster Pro Sieben is close.
The remote regional airport in the Hunsrück is mainly used by the low-cost airline Ryanair and has always been a problem child for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which had to look for an operator for the long-loss-making airport for years – and didn’t exactly show a lucky hand in the process. Back in 2016, the state government in Mainz embarrassed itself because it had apparently fallen for a shady investor from the Far East and had to reopen the process. A year later, the Chinese conglomerate HNA finally found itself as the buyer of the former military airport. But in 2021 the airport slipped into bankruptcy again and the public prosecutor’s office had initiated investigations into subsidy fraud, among other things. The search for an operator started again, once again.
In June 2022 the The insolvency administrator finally announces the supposedly redeeming news: A new buyer has been found; a Frankfurt company called Swift Conjoy wants to take over the airport and its workforce. The hope for the approximately 400 employees at the regional airport was short-lived: towards the end of the year, the purchase price had apparently still not been paid. In February 2023, the insolvency administrator finally announced that the The sale was “not completed”. and you search again. What was wrong remained unclear for a long time – now there could be a possible explanation.
Swift Conjoy is a joint venture of Swift Holding, a Frankfurt company that primarily acts as an asset manager and real estate developer, but has so far had little to do with air traffic. According to Pro Sieben, Adem K. could have initiated the purchase in the background. Adem K. is said to have convinced Musa A., a partner at Swift Holding, of the idea of taking over the airport and held out the prospect of financing the deal. Adem K. wanted to provide the money for the purchase, which was probably worth millions. Trusting in this, Swift Holding could have finally bid on the stricken airport, the article suggests, citing Musa A’s statements. He also reports on a business meeting with Adem K. in Düsseldorf’s Stadttor, a high-rise office building, to which Adem K. apparently invited people specifically in order to present himself as a serious businessman with a representative company headquarters. K. had apparently only rented an hourly office there. Adem K. did not comment on Pro Sieben.
He also left an inquiry from the SZ about the airport deal unanswered to the portal Founder scene K. doesn’t deny the contact, but just wants to be “informed” about the airport deal. K. has apparently at least hinted at his airport considerations in those around him. A business partner who advised on the founding of the alleged Bavarian Airlines told the SZ that Adem K. had also asked him whether buying the ailing airport made sense, although apparently without giving any further details. K. apparently sent another business partner a photo at the end of October 2022 that shows him meeting with Musa A. – at a time when the Hahn insolvency administrator was waiting for the purchase price to be transferred.
Swift Holding, on the other hand, contradicts the Pro Sieben report. A lawyer told the SZ on Thursday that Adem K. “played no role” in the purchase and was “not aware” that Musa A. had since left the company.
The insolvency administrator has now found another buyer
The connection between Adem K. and Swift partner Musa A. is visible on Linkedin, where both are connected to each other. Last year, Musa A. posted about the airport purchase there: “Swift Conjoy intends to continue and comprehensively expand passenger and cargo operations at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, including investments and the creation of new jobs in the region.” At the beginning of the year he posted a link to one of the many articles reporting on Adem K’s plan to found Bavarian Airlines – with a ladybug emoji, as if wishing the supposed founder luck. Adem K., in turn, liked the post.
The airline never happened, nor did Swift purchase Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. In April 2023, the insolvency administrator announced that he had found another buyer for the airport: a company from Trier that already operates airfields. And for all we know, the new owner isn’t a teenager.