Lufthansa linked airlines appoint new CEOs from group ranks

Lufthansa announces management changes at Eurowings and SunExpress

Max Kownatzki to become CEO of Eurowings, Marcus Schnabel to become Chief Executive Officer of SunExpress

Lufthansa Group announces dual CEO shifts at Eurowings and SunExpress

German carrier Lufthansa Group has announced appointment of leadership at two of its subsidiaries. As part of the changes, Max Kownatzki, the 53-year-old Chief Executive Officer of SunExpress, will take over as CEO of Eurowings on February 1, 2026. In a press statement, Lufthansa Group says that Kownatzki succeeds Jens Bischof, who is stepping down from the management board at year-end after more than five years at the helm of Eurowings and over…

Max Kownatzki succeeds Jens Bischof at Eurowings

Max Kownatzki, CEO of SunExpress for almost six years, will take over as Chairman of the Executive Board of Eurowings on 1 February 2026. The post Max Kownatzki succeeds Jens Bischof at Eurowings appeared first on Aviation Business News.

Lufthansa linked airlines appoint new CEOs from group ranks

Two Lufthansa Group linked airlines have appointed new CEOs from the company’s own ranks during a busy day of leadership changes. On December 11, 2025, Lufthansa-owned Eurowings announced that the CEO of SunExpress, Max Kownatzki, would join be joining the German leisure carrier following six years leading SunExpress. SunExpress, which is jointly owned by Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, then announced that Kownatzki’s replacement would be the cu…

Kowanatzki leaves SunExpress to head up Eurowings

SunExpress, the joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, has appointed Marcus Schnabel as its new Chief Executive Officer. He will succeed Max Kownatzki, who has led the leisure airline since 2020 and who will take up a new role as CEO of Lufthansa’s low-fare subsidiary, Eurowings Kownatzki leaves after a year which saw SunExpress report record revenues of EUR 2.2 billion for 2024 (a 23% year-on-year increase) and significantly expa…