dnata, a leading global air and travel services provider, announced the appointment of Willy Ruf as the company’s managing director for Switzerland.
In his role, Ruf will oversee dnata’s ground handling and cargo business and operations at Geneva Airport (GVA) and Zürich Airport (ZRH) in Switzerland. He will manage a team of 1,100 employees, ensuring world-class services and safety for over 30 airline customers.
A Swiss national, Ruf has more than 30 years of international experience in the ground handling, cargo and travel industries. Most recently, he has been dnata’s head of operations in Geneva. Prior to joining dnata, he held various senior leadership roles at Wisag and Swissport across Europe.
Ruf will report to Stewart Angus, dnata’s Regional CEO for Europe. His appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2024. In his new role Ruf will replace Roberto Feijoo Lopez, who decided to leave dnata to pursue another opportunity.
“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Willy, who has demonstrated exceptional management skills and steadfast commitment to excellence as our operations leader in Geneva. As a respected and experienced leader in our industry, he is well-equipped to contribute significantly to our strategic objectives and strengthen dnata’s market presence in Switzerland," Angus said.
“I would genuinely like to thank Roberto for his important contribution to the success and development of dnata Switzerland over the past 16 years. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” he added.
In recent years, dnata has significantly invested in infrastructure and equipment, including “green” ground support equipment (GSE), to deliver the highest level of quality and safety for its customers in Switzerland. dnata’s recent investments include five new hybrid de-icing trucks, which increased the number of electric GSE in its Swiss fleet to 35 percent.
dnata has also recently rolled out its advanced ‘OneCargo’ system across its cargo operations in Switzerland. OneCargo automates key business and operational functions, including safety and quality monitoring, reporting and ULD management, with an integrated, cloud-based platform. AI-driven tools and analytics provide enhanced visibility on sales and business performance, allowing customers to match real-time demand with available capacity for maximum profitability. In addition, OneCargo eliminates all redundancies and manual check sheets, substantially improving operational efficiency.
In the financial year 2022-23, dnata’s team assisted a total of seven million passengers and moved over 60,000 tonnes of cargo in Geneva and Zürich.
dnata is a leading global air and travel services provider. It offers quality and safe ground handling, cargo, travel, catering and retail services in over 30 countries across six continents.
