German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG has named deputy chairman Christoph Franz as its new CEO. Franz, who managed the restructuring of Swiss Air, will succeed Wolfgang Mayrhuber. Mayrhuber, 63, will retire after more than 40 years at Lufthansa and seven years at the helm.
Lifthansa said Franz’s task would be maintaining carrier’s position as Europe’s leading airline by passenger volume.
“The appointment will be effective from January 1, 2011, for a term until May 31, 2014, in accordance with German stock corporation law,” Lufthansa said in a statement released Wednesday.
Lufthansa also placed orders for 48 new aircraft to meet growing demand. Orders, worth EUR3.5 billion, include 40 planes from Airbus and eight from Brazil’s Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, known as Embraer. The planes will be used within the Lufthansa fleet, as well as by the airline’s Germanwings and Swiss Air subsidiaries.