Russia’s Smartavia shuffles senior leadership again

Russian carrier Smartavia has named Sergei Lazarev as its new CE, the fourth individual to hold the post in the space of about two years. Smartavia says Lazarev has been with the airline since March 2021. He was previously serving as first deputy general director for production at the carrier, which emerged five years ago after rebranding from the previous name Nordavia. It was initially under the leadership of Sergei Savostin before he was succeeded by Anatoly Semenyuk in April 2022, as Russian carriers faced pressure from sanctions related to the Ukrainian conflict. Semenyuk had previously headed Nordavia for two years, prior to the rebrand. But the CE role changed again later the same year when Sergei Chernyshev was put in charge in October 2022. Smartavia says Lazarev’s appointment will “strengthen” its operational side, adding that this is “extremely important” for enabling the airline to operate more efficiently in the “current realities” of the air transport market.<br/>