Vagn Ove Sørensen has been made a non-executive member of the British Midland Ltd (bmi) Board of Directors with immediate effect, and will simultaneously take over as its Chairman.

Vagn Sørensen takes over the position held by Stefan Lauer, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Chief Officer Group Airlines and Corporate Human Resources, who has been acting as Chairman of the bmi Board of Directors since 1st July, 2009.

“With Vagn Sørensen, we are gaining a renowned airline expert to take the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of bmi. His experience with corporate restructuring is of particular importance and value to the company in this crucial period”, Stefan Lauer said regarding the change-over.

The change makes sense in terms of good corporate governance by avoiding possible conflicts of interest that could result from a dual role as both a member of the Lufthansa Executive Board and Chairman of the bmi Board.

As a Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Stefan Lauer will remain responsible for the Lufthansa Group’s Airlines including bmi.

Vagn Ove Sørensen was born in 1959 in Vandel, Denmark. After receiving a Masters in Economics and Business Administration from the Business School of Economics at the University of Aarhus, he began his career at Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). He held several positions there before taking on the role of Senior Vice President, SAS Business Systems Divisions as a member of group management in 1993 and was named Deputy CEO in 1999.

In 2001, he was appointed to the Board of Austrian Airlines AG and named Chairman of the Board, a position he held until 2006. Vagn Sørensen is a member of the Supervisory Board of Lufthansa Cargo AG.  His other responsibilities include, among others, serving as Chairman of the Board for TDC A/S and Scandic Hotels AB as well as sitting on the Board of Directors of Air Canada and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.