Carsten Spohr has been selected as the next chief executive of Lufthansa group.

The 47-year-old, who currently head Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, will assume his new role on May 1st 2014.

Spohr will take over from Christoph Franz, who is moving to Swiss pharmaceuticals group Roche.

After graduating with a degree in industrial engineering, Spohr qualified for a commercial airline pilot’s license from the Lufthansa Flight Training School.

He also holds the Lufthansa captains license.

He then spent a short time at Deutsche Aerospace AG in Munich before returning to Lufthansa in October 1994 to head central personnel marketing.

Between 1995 and 1998, he worked as a personal assistant to the chief executive.

In August 1998 he assumed responsibility for regional and later for the company’s global partnerships including the Star Alliance.

In October 2004, Spohr was appointed to the management board of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines where he was responsible for service and staff.

Effective January 15th 2007, he was appointed chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Cargo AG.

Lufthansa board chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber said: “Carsten Spohr is an excellent choice for the responsible position of chief executive both in my opinion and that of my colleagues, not least thanks to his extensive experience in the industry, his outstanding management skills and his passion and loyalty to Lufthansa.

“We know that the future of Lufthansa will be in good hands with Carsten Spohr.”