EMEA appointment wrap of the month – Feb-2018

4 March, 2018

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions 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 following month. Here are the key executive changes for Feb-2018:

  • TUI Group confirmed the appointment of Oliver Lackmann as TUIfly chief operating officer, effective 01-Mar-2018.
  • Thomas Cook AirlinesScandinavia appointed Cimber A/S MD Kent Hansen as director flight operations, effective 01-Mar-2018. Mr Hansen replaces Per Schrøder in the position.
  • Swedavia appointed Peder Grunditz as director at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, succeeding Kjell-Åke Westin from 01-Mar-2018.
  • Aergo Leasing announced chief commercial officer Gerry Power plans to resign, effective 28-Feb-2018
  • Smiths Group replaced Smith Detection president Richard Ingram with Roland Carter, effective end Feb-2018 (TBC).
  • Frequentis announced (23-Feb-2018) the following changes to its executive:
    • CEO and owner Hannes Bardach: Move to supervisory board in mid Apr-2018;
    • Norbert Haslacher, current executive board member for sales and marketing, to become CEO;
    • Hermann Mattanovich and Sylvia Bardach remain in their current responsibility as CTO and CFO respectively.
  • TUI Group appointed Andrew Flintham as MD of TUI UK & Ireland, effective 01-Mar-2018.
  • TAAG commercial director William Boulter resigned due to health reasons.
  • Airgest SpA appointed Paolo Angius as board chairman. Airgest SpA is the management company for Trapani Birgi Airport.
  • SAS head of media relations Fredrik Henriksson plans to resign, effective Apr-2018
  • Groupe ADP announced (22-Feb-2018) the following appointments:
    • Henri-Michel Comet: Appointed deputy CEO and executive committee member;
    • Patrick Collard: To be appointed Madagascar Airports director;
    • Régis Lacote: Appointed Paris Orly Airport director and executive committee member;
    • Gilles Lévêque: Appointed executive committee member;
    • Christophe Laurent: Appointed Paris Charles de Gaulle deputy director;
    • Philippe Laborie: Appointed aircraft operations director.
  • Gonen Usishkin assumed the role of President & CEO at El Al on 15-Feb-2018.
  • Airbus COO & President of Commercial Fabrice Bergier departs. As previously reported, Guillaume Fuary replaces Mr Bergier.
  • Gulf Air appointed Suhail Abdulhameed Abdulaziz Ismail as chief operating officer, effective Feb-2018.
  • Bucharest Airports National Company(CNAB) appointed Dan Baciu as GM for a four month mandate.
  • Trapani Birgi Airport management company Airgest SpA introduced its new board of directors, including the appointment of Paolo Angius as Airgest SpA Chairman & president.
  • Petrozavodsk Besovets Airport appointed Aleksey Nikolaev to the position of director general.
  • Bristol Airport appointed Dave Lees as CEO, effective 01-Aug-2018. Bristol Airport chairman Janis Kong, appointed as interim CEO in Oct-2017 following the departure of Robert Sinclair, will continue in that role until Aug-2018.
  • Dubrovnik Airport appointed Frano Luetic as its new CEO
  • Kassel Calden Airport advisory board appointed Burkhard Siebert as chairman, effective immediately.
  • Aosta Corrado Gex Airport operator Aeroporto Valle d'Aosta SpA appointed Giovanni Pellizzeri as president and Germano Paoli as VP.
  • Brussels Airlines announced (05-Feb-2018) the following changes to its executive:
    • CEO: Christina Foerster, effective 01-Apr-2018. Ms Foerster previously served as Brussels Airlines CCO;
    • COO: Thibault Demoulin, effective 01-Apr-2018. Mr Demoulin previously served as Brussels Airlines SVP flight operations and deputy accountable manager.
  • Namibia Airports Company board of directors announced Albertus Aochamub was appointed as acting CEO on secondment for approximately 12 months or until a new CEO is found, following the resignation of Lot Haifidi. The company will begin advertising for a new CEO in 4Q2018.
  • VTB Leasing appointed Dmitry Ivanter to the position of director general, effective Jan-2018.
  • Oman Air appointed Suleiman Al Ghannami as CFO, effective 01-Feb-2018.
  • Aerotask announced Marian Pistik has sold his majority stake in the company and has decided to step down as CEO.