Helmut Himmelreich Takes Over as New airberlin COO

Helmut Himmelreich has taken over as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Air Berlin PLC.

Since March 2010 Mr Himmelreich has been airberlin’s Chief Maintenance Officer, a post will now be filled by his deputy, Marco Ciomperlik, who has already been a member of the Management Board at airberlin technik for some years.

Christoph Debus, since June 2009 a member of the Executive Board of Air Berlin PLC, has decided to leave airberlin with effect from 31 December of this year to look for a different professional challenge by going abroad to take on new responsibilities within the industry.

From 2003 until 2007 Helmut Himmelreich was Technical Director at Swiss International Airlines, where he was responsible for International Purchasing, Engineering and Planning. In addition he acted as deputy COO for the areas Cockpit, Cabin and Traffic Control. During this period the technical operations of Swiss International Airlines were reorganized and the restructuring and development of the International Maintenance Line as well as the integration of the regional airline Crossair in Swiss were completed. Prior to this, Helmut Himmelreich had already held a variety of responsible posts at LTU for 25 years.

Before moving to airberlin, Marco Ciomperlik had been employed as Strategy Consultant and had gained experience in risk management at Deutsche Bank, where he worked on international projects and a variety of functions.

Hartmut Mehdorn, airberlin CEO, said, “Christoph Debus’s move to a responsible position within the industry abroad is a challenge that I can understand, even though I regret that he is leaving us. On the other hand, I am pleased that airberlin can fill the gap with highly competent and experienced internal candidates. With Helmut Himmelreich and Marco Ciomperlik on board, we will be able to continue airberlin’s ongoing strategy in the technical division with quality, accuracy and growth. The experience of the new COO and CMO guarantee that his will be the case.”

airberlin has a workforce of 8,900 employees, a fleet that comprises 168 aircraft with an average age of five years, and flies to 163 destinations in 39 countries. airberlin has signed up for membership to the global airline alliance oneworld and is expected to become a full member at the start of 2012.

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