Udo Mager was in charge of Dortmund Airport for seven years. On September 30th, the manager will finish his last day of work and then retire. One day later, Ludger van Bebber, who is currently in charge of Weeze Airport, takes over.

In 2019, Dortmund achieved the best result in the history of the airport with around 2,72 million passengers. The deficit could be reduced to 0,4 million euros, but then the year 2020 came. "I still remember March 13, 2020 very well. On that day, I presented our Supervisory Board with the best annual result in the history of the airport," said Udo Mager. Just a week later, the number of passengers dropped to less than 1.000 travelers per day, and restaurants, the visitor terrace and the duty-free shop had to close.

“Those were difficult times for all of us. As the managing director, I thought ´I hope it will work out well! The number of passengers continued to drop in the course of April and May, and in some cases we didn't have any passengers at all, ”says Mager. On June 18, 2020 the big ray of hope came: Wizzair announced the opening of the first base on German soil.

While the departing airport director swaps the stress of work for retirement, Ludger van Bebber will start on October 1, 2020 as managing director in Dortmund. “The airport in Dortmund has developed excellently in recent years. I am excited by the task of further developing this location in a prosperous city with a professional team. The year 2021 will certainly still be clearly in the light of coping with the consequences of the corona pandemic. After that, the top priority is to return to the previous level of traffic as quickly as possible and to continue the good economic development, ”said the future airport manager.