Airbus has appointed Christian Scherer to the role of chief commercial officer, replacing Eric Schulz, who has decided to leave the company after just nine months for personal reasons.

Scherer will start his new assignment with immediate effect and will report to Airbus chief executive Tom Enders.

Enders said: “With Christian Scherer we see one of our most customer-focused leaders at the commercial helm of Airbus.

“Over his various assignments I greatly valued his international mind-set, his strategic vision, and tremendous commercial expertise.”

He added: “We regret Eric Schulz’s decision.

“We wish him all the best for his future.”

Scherer chief executive of ATR since October 2016, held many senior management positions within the group.

At Airbus, where he started his career in 1984, he was head of contracts, leasing markets and deputy head of sales as well as head of strategy and future programmes.

At Airbus Defence and Space, he headed the marketing and sales department.

Born in Duisburg, Germany, and raised in Toulouse, France, Scherer holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa in international marketing and graduated from the Paris Business School.