In his new position, effective 1st July, Vranckx, a Belgian national, assumes full responsibility for SWISS International Air Lines for Hong Kong, Macau, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. From September 1st, this role will be expanded to include Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Brunei to complete the portfolio of 11 countries in total.
Prior to arriving in Hong Kong, Vranckx was based at the SWISS International Air Lines head office in Zurich where he was Head of Business Development, responsible for developing market and sales strategies for the various customer segments, leading cross-divisional projects and cost saving projects as well as contract negotiations throughout the commercial divisions.

He also held a senior management role in External Relations, setting up the initial traffic rights and linked commercial contracts for the creation of the new SWISS International Air Lines, as well as negotiating new commercial contracts with partner airlines and alliance partners. He took up this position from his former role as Senior Manager Network Planning Europe, where he was responsible for managing, planning and analysing Route Economics and Profitability for Europe North, including major contract negotiations in Aircraft Leasing and restructuring.

Commenting on his new appointment, Vranckx says: “I am very excited about this new challenge which sees further strengthening and consolidation of the SWISS International Air Lines positioning in the region, as Asia - and specifically China - continue to grow in stature and importance to the world passenger sales and cargo markets.

” I am looking forward to working with the SWISS International Air Lines team here in Hong Kong -  and throughout the region - to further develop and grow the brand through various strategic marketing initiatives and activities and to prepare the ground for growth.

“Of particular interest to me is the relationship with our partners and corporates in the market, the profitability of the Hong Kong route and the increasing awareness of all our regional and international destinations”

Vranckx,  holds an MBA from the Solvay University in Brussels and is a qualified Commercial Engineer.

SWISS International Air Lines has been serving Hong Kong since 2002 and today, flies to 70 destinations in 42 countries worldwide and carried 10.66 million passengers last year. The airline operates daily flights between Hong Kong and Zurich. The airline has seen improved load factors on its intercontinental routes in the first half of this year. The first half of 2004 results included a second quarter profit (EBIT)
of CHF 50 million.
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