Zurich, April 24 2009 — Swissport International will see a change in its group executive management on June 1: Urs Sieber , long-serving executive vice president ground handling Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia, is to withdraw from day-to-day business operations to assume a seat on the Swissport International Board of Directors. Sieber’s current duties are to be divided into two new entities, each of which will be headed by an experienced Swissport executive: Juan José Andres Alvez will serve as executive vice president EMEAA (Europe, Middle East Africa & Asia), while Adrian Melliger will serve as senior vice president responsible for the key Swiss and German markets.
Both new appointees have already spent several years working successfully for Swissport International in the regions concerned, and this should ensure a smooth, swift and professional handover of the various duties involved. Andres Alvez will take up a seat on group executive management in his new capacity, while Melliger will report directly to the president & CEO of Swissport International.
Urs Sieber is a proven professional and industry personality who can look back on some 43 years of successes within the aviation sector. After holding various management posts at Swissair and subsequently serving as managing director of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, he joined Swissport International’s Group Executive Management in 2002. He has been instrumental in promoting the Swissport Group’s growth in various regions such as North Africa, Japan and Eastern Europe, and has driven and supported further key expansions in the Spanish and UK markets. His many achievements also extend to close collaborations with several leading international airlines, with whom he has jointly developed innovative and cost-effective cooperation models. Urs Sieber has further served on the boards of directors of a number of local Swissport companies, where he has also been able to contribute his extensive expertise.
“I am very pleased that we have secured Urs Sieber’s services for our Board of Directors,” says Per Utnegaard, president & CEO of Swissport International. “I’m delighted that we will be able to continue to count on his strategic talents and his sheer professionalism; and I would like to offer him my warmest thanks, also on behalf of the Board of Directors and everyone at Swissport, for all his energies and his many valuable achievements over the last seven years. We wish him health and happiness throughout the months and years ahead. At the same time, I would like to warmly welcome our two new top management members, by wishing them every success and satisfaction in their challenging new duties.”
