Senior Management Update

RNS Number : 4703L

Wizz Air Holdings PLC

19 July 2017

 

SENIOR MANAGEMENT UPDATE - APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER

LSE: WIZZ

Geneva, 19 July 2017: Wizz Air Holdings Plc (the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, "Wizz Air"), the largest low cost carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, announces today that it has promoted two members of management to Wizz Air's executive team.

Iain Wetherall, currently Head of Financial Planning & Control and Investor Relations, is promoted to Chief Financial Officer with effect from 01 August 2017.  As Chief Financial Officer, Iain will report to the Company's Chief Executive Officer and be responsible for the accounting and tax, financial planning and controlling, fleet acquisition and corporate finance and purchasing organizations.  He joined Wizz Air in July 2011 as Head of Corporate Finance and, following the Company's initial public offering in 2015, he also led the Company's investor relations function before taking on his current role in September 2016. Iain is a chartered accountant, holds an Advanced Treasury Diploma from the Association of Corporate Treasurers, a Securities and Investment Diploma from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments and was a Securities Representative authorized by the Securities and Futures Authority (now Financial Conduct Authority).  Prior to Wizz Air, Iain gained experience in tax & treasury, corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, accounting, audit, corporate governance, internal control and consulting in various finance roles for Royal Ahold, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Singer & Friedlander Bank Limited.

Heiko Holm, currently Head of Technical Services, is promoted to become Wizz Air's Chief Technical Officer, reporting to Diederik Pen, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer.  As Wizz Air's fleet continues to grow, the technical and operations complexity associated with the size of the fleet and the multi-base operation also increases.  To ensure that Wizz Air is adequately resourced for its future growth, the new position of Chief Technical Officer has been created on Wizz Air's Leadership Team.  The Chief Technical Officer will remain the post-holder for continuing airworthiness and the Accountable Manager for Wizz Air's Part 145 maintenance organization. Heiko graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Germany as an Engineer specialized in Aircraft Construction and Design and went on to build a successful career with Lufthansa Technik, ultimately becoming the Director of Operations for Lufthansa Technik in Shenzhen, China, from where he joined Wizz Air.  The appointment takes effect from 01 August 2017.

József Váradi, Wizz Air's Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"The promotion of Iain Wetherall to Chief Financial Officer and Heiko Holm to the newly-created Chief Technical Officer position are further examples of Wizz Air's planning for its future significant growth by bringing additional capacity into its senior management team while leveraging its great talent pool to promote from within.  Both Iain and Heiko have already proven themselves as successful leaders in Wizz Air and each brings significant and extensive expertise to their role.  I look forward to working with both of them closely as members of the Leadership Team as we continue to grow quickly but profitably at the same time as implementing exciting projects at Wizz Air, including the introduction of the ultra-efficient Airbus A321NEO into our fleet as a new aircraft type from January 2019, bringing increased cost efficiency to the business as we continue to drive our aim of Wizz Air becoming the undisputed cost leader among European airlines."

ABOUT WIZZ AIR

Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe, operates a fleet of 84 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft, and offers more than 500 routes from 28 bases, connecting 142 destinations across 43 countries. At Wizz Air, a team of approximately 3,300 aviation professionals delivers superior service and very low ticket prices making Wizz Air the preferred choice of 23.8 million passengers in the financial year ended 31 March 2017. Wizz Air is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ and is included in the FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share Indices. Wizz Air is registered under the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the global benchmark in airline safety recognition. The company was recently named 2016 Value Airline of the Year by the editors of Air Transport World, one of the leading airline trade magazines, as well as 2016 Low Cost Airline of the Year by the Center for Aviation (CAPA), a leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence.

For more information:
Investors:	Iain Wetherall, Wizz Air:	[phone]
	Balint Veres, Wizz Air:	[phone]
Media:	Tamara Vallois, Wizz Air:	[phone]
	Edward Bridges / Jonathan Neilan, FTI Consulting LLP:	[phone]

 

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