Swissport Appoints Eric Born New President And CEO

April 23, 2015
Born spent six years at Wincanton Plc, a leading logistics company in the UK, and also has experience in the aviation sector, with roles at both Gategroup and John Menzies.

Swissport International Ltd. today announced that Eric Born will assume his duties as new Group President & CEO of Swissport International (SPI) on Aug. 1. He will succeed Per H. Utnegaard, who will take on the role of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of SPI.

The Board of Directors of Swissport International Ltd. is very pleased to announce that Eric Born has accepted to join the Group as President & CEO. Eric has a very strong track record in creating value and delivering sustainable results in private equity owned and publicly listed organisations across retail, logistics and aviation services.

Prior to joining Swissport, Eric spent six years at Wincanton Plc, a leading logistics company headquartered in the UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange. He joined Wincanton in 2009 as COO before he was promoted to CEO in 2010.

From 2004 to 2009 Eric was President Europe West/South and Member of the Executive Management Board of aviation services provider Gategroup. Prior to that Eric held several managing director positions in retail businesses in the UK as well as Switzerland. Eric also served as Non-Executive Director at John Menzies Plc, a leading distribution and global aviation services business from 2010 until 2014.

Eric is a Swiss national and holds a BBA from the University of Applied Science in Zurich and a MBA from Simon Business School at the University of Rochester N.Y.

Per H. Utnegaard has been the Group President and CEO of Swissport International Ltd. for the past eight years. Per will continue cooperating with SPI as Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors. Dr. Thomas Staehelin, Chairman of the Board of Directors: “Under Per’s leadership, Swissport has embarked on a successful growth path – from about 23,000 employees in 2007 to now well over 60,000. We thank him for his dedicated and successful work and look forward to continue working with him as Vice Chairman of the Board.” 

Swissport International Ltd. provides ground services for around 224 million passengers and handles 4.1 million tonnes of cargo a year on behalf of some 700 client-companies in the aviation sector. With a workforce of more than 60,000 personnel, Swissport is active at more than 265 stations in 45 countries across five continents, and generates consolidated operating revenue of CHF 3.0 billion.www.swissport.com