EMEA appointment highlights of the month – Jan-2020

12 February, 2020

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the EMEA region witness policy and upper level changes on a daily basis. It is important to not only keep tabs of these organisations direction, but to also monitor changes in executive branches to see the wider picture of the travel market. The Blue Swan Daily will keep you informed of these movements each month, with a full wrap of the key changes in the EMEA market, while also looking forward to key appointments announced for the month.

Here are the key executive changes for Jan-2020;

  • Austrian Airlines announced plans to realign its management team as part of the ongoing cost reduction strategy programme on 12-Feb-2020. Details include:
    • Jens Ritter: Appointed chief operating officer and executive board member;
    • Markus Christl: To be appointed head of human resources, effective 01-Mar-2020;
    • Susanne Svejda: Appointed head of ground operations, succeeding Mr Christl.
  • Eurowings announced plans to appoint VP sales Oliver Schmitt as its new CCO and executive board member, effective 01-Mar-2020;
  • Air Namibia appointed chief human resources officer Elia Erastus as acting CEO, effective 11-Feb-2020, following the resignation of interim CEO Xavier Masule;
  • National Air Transportation Association (NATA) appointed Timothy R Obitts as president and CEO, succeeding Gary Dempsey. Mr Obitts previously served as NATA COO;
  • Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs reported plans to step down from his position at the end of Apr-2020;
  • Cabo Verde Airlines appointed Erlendur Svavarsson as CEO, succeeding Jens Bjarnason;
  • Turkish Cargo appointed Cornelis Paul de Man as SVP cargo sales, effective Feb-2020;
  • Aero Africa appointed Jade Da Costa as CCO on 03-Feb-2020;
  • ACI World appointed Luis Felipe de Oliveira as director general, effective Jun-2020. Mr de Oliveira will succeed Angela Gittens;
  • IAG announced plans to appoint current Vueling CEO Javier Sánchez-Prieto as Iberia president and CEO, effective Mar-2020. Iberia chief commercial officer Marco Sansavini will be appointed CEO of Vueling, replacing Mr Sánchez-Prieto, from late Mar-2020;
  • euroAtlantic Airways appointed Eduardo Arruda as CCO on 28-Jan-2020;
  • SunExpress appointed Max Kownatzki as CEO. Mr Kownatzki is to join the management board from 15-Apr-2020, subject to approval by the SunExpress board. SunExpress CEO Jens Bischof will take up the position of Eurowings CEO;
  • Iberia appointed Juan Cierco as a new member of the board of directors;
  • Comair appointed Avsharn Bachoo as chief information officer, effective 01-Feb-2020;
  • SAS appointed Charlotte Svensson as EVP and chief information officer (CIO), effective 01-Feb-2020.
  • emea
  • europe/mea
  • executive movements