Martin Apsel-von zur Gathen has been appointed as SWISS’s new Head of Operations Planning & Steering. He will assume his duties on 1 August. Apsel-von zur Gathen is presently Head of Product Management Customer Service for the Lufthansa Group. In his new SWISS capacity he succeeds Marcus Schnabel, who took up a new position as Head of Flight/Ground Operations & Security for the Lufthansa Group at the beginning of May.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has appointed Martin Apsel-von zur Gathen as its new Head of Operations Planning & Steering. In his new capacity, which he will assume on 1 August, Apsel-von zur Gathen will be responsible for the planning and the day-to-day management of efficient and reliable flight operations, and will report directly to SWISS Head of Operations Oliver Buchhofer. He succeeds Marcus Schnabel, who took up new duties as Head of Flight/Ground Operations & Security for the Lufthansa Group at the beginning of May.

Martin Apsel-von zur Gathen, who is 36, has been in aviation since 2005. He assumed his present function as Head of Product Management Customer Service for the Lufthansa Group in 2018. In this position he has been responsible for developing a groupwide strategy for optimizing customer service, has driven various projects to digitalize customer interactions and has borne responsibility for the Lufthansa Group’s customer service operations worldwide. Prior to this, from 2016 to 2018, he was Head of Network Management at SWISS, having previously held various further SWISS and Lufthansa positions.

“Martin Apsel-von zur Gathen is a highly skilled aviation specialist and, with his extensive experience from various management positions within the Lufthansa Group, is the ideal appointee for this demanding position,” says SWISS Head of Operations Oliver Buchhofer. “I am very much looking forward to working with him, and I wish him every success and satisfaction in his new capacity.”

Martin Apsel-von zur Gathen holds a degree in aviation management from the IU International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef near Bonn, Germany. He has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Columbia University in New York (USA). He is married and has two children.