EMEA appointment highlights of the month – Feb-2020

11 March, 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 Feb-2020;

  • Uganda's Ministry of Works and Transport appointed Profiles International to search for candidates for the appointment of a new Uganda Airlines The contract of acting CEO Cornwell Muleya is scheduled to expire at the end of Feb-2020;
  • British Airways stated its chief operating officer, Klaus Goersch, and its director of people, Angela Williams, will be leaving the company. The airline's former director of engineering Jason Mahoney will succeed Mr Goersch as COO, while IAG Cargo's former director of people Stuart Kennedy will succeed Ms Williams;
  • SWISS announced plans to appoint Christina Trelle as the new head of HR, effective 01-Mar-2020;
  • Saudia announced the appointment of Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser as chairman of the board of directors;
  • Lufthansa Group CCO network airlines Harry Hohmeister said hiring and recruitment "may have to be suspended or postponed" to manage the economic impact of the coronavirus situation;
  • airBaltic appointed Pauls Cālītis as chief operations officer and board member, effective 01-Mar-2020;
  • Laudamotion plans to appoint Ryanair CCO David O'Brien as joint MD alongside MD Andreas Gruber, effective 01-Apr-2020;
  • Brussels Airlines announced plans to appoint Nina Öwerdieck as CFO, effective 01-Jul-2020. She replaces Dieter Vranckx, who will continue in his role as CEO and CCO since 01-Jan-2020;
  • Kenya Airways announced plans to appoint Allan Kilavuka as Kenya Airways Group MD and CEO, effective 01-Apr-2020. Mr Kilavuka is currently Jambojet CEO and has held the position of Kenya Airways acting CEO since Dec-2019;
  • IAG appointed Adam Daniels as IAG Loyalty CEO, effective 01-Mar-2020;
  • Eurowings appointed Jens Bischof as CEO and management board chairman, effective 02-Mar-2020;
  • Air Mauritius announced the resignation of CEO Somaskaran Thiagarajan Appavou, effective 02-Mar-2020. Indradev (Raja) Buton was appointed officer in charge and accountable manager until further notice;
  • Air Namibia suspended senior manager for sales and marketing Wimpie Van Vuuren, cargo sales manager Johannes Blaauw and cargo operations manager Abraham Nasab, effective 28-Feb-2020;
  • Airlines for Europe (A4E) appointed Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith as the new A4E chairman on 03-Mar-2020.