The supervisory board of Austrian Airlines appointed Alexis von Hoensbroech as the new CE of the carrier as of Aug 1, succeeding Kay Kratky, who will step down after 3 years in July when his contract ends. Von Hoensbroech is currently Lufthansa Cargo CCO and a member of the executive board. Austrian Airlines board chairman Harry Hohmeister said von Hoensbroech delivers the implementation experience necessary to develop the carrier further. “After restructuring and stabilisation the strategy for Austrian has to be taken to a next level. There is still plenty to do and the range of tasks is huge, including increasing profits,” Hohmeister said. <br/>“Austrian's market-position and the Vienna hub can be further developed,” Hohmeister said. <br/>
star
Lufthansa Group is set to raise its presence in Thailand, Vietnam and the Mekong region this year with its latest products, routes and digital initiatives. Stefan Molnar, GM for Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and the Mekong region, said the group will continue to strengthen 3 core strategies for the region on the heels of a brand relaunch in February. The three main pillars are network airlines, Eurowings Group and aviation services. The group plans to increase the frequency of flights to Thailand from European cities, rising from 24 flights a week to 29 during the coming high season, starting in the last quarter of this year. The more-frequent flights will meet demand from the European market during the continent's peak travel period. <br/>
The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) Tuesday said Air India's probe into alleged manipulation in preparation of rosters should also cover pilots operating Boeing aircraft than just those flying Airbus planes. The association -- which represents more than 800 pilots of the carrier who operate narrow-body Airbus fleet -- also urged the airline to extend the investigation to cover 'simulator hours'. It also asked its members to strictly maintain the roster and accept pull outs only when they are on standby duty. Generally, simulator hours refers to training hours. Air India is probing alleged irregularities in preparation of rosters for pilots and whether they are being changed at the insistence of some pilots. Monday, sources had said some pilots mutually decide among themselves on flight duties. <br/>
Norway launched a sale of its remaining 9.88% stake in Scandinavian airline SAS, the country's ministry of trade and industry said Tuesday. The Norwegian state has gradually reduced its stake in SAS, and the latest sale of 37.8m shares would complete its exit from the Sweden-headquartered airline. "The Norwegian state's ownership in SAS has been purely commercial. Consequently, it is not expected that the company will be making strategic or operational changes following the transaction," the ministry said. Norway appointed Nordea, Pareto and UBS as joint global coordinators and book runners for the transaction, it added. <br/>