The Supervisory Board of Austrian Airlines AG has decided to appoint Alfred ?-tsch, 52, as the successor to Vagn Soerensen as the Chief Executive Officer of the company.Mr ?-tsch will join the company as a member of the Board of Management on 1 April 2006 and assume the position of Chief Executive Officer on 1 May 2006.

Following an efficient and professional application and selection process, the Supervisory Board has arrived at a decision on the appointment of the future Chief Executive Officer of Austrian Airlines AG. The decision was in accordance with the recommendation of the Personnel Committee. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Rainer Wieltsch, said the following on the decision: ‘The proposal to appoint Mr Alfred ?-tsch as Chief Executive Officer met with broad agreement on the Supervisory Board. I am happy that we have been able to gain the services of a man who, in addition to his wide-ranging professional experience and financial expertise, has solid contacts in Austrian business and strong integrative skills. Now that the decision has been taken, we need to concentrate our full energies once again on our daily business, with the emphasis on the need to improve our result and continue the valuable specialisation work already completed.’

Chief Executive Officer Vagn Soerensen made the following statement on the designation of his successor:    ‘I am pleased, that in Alfred ?-tsch the Austrian Airlines Group has gained the services of a manager with an international profile and experience in our traffic domain of Eastern Europe. This assignment is definitely one of the most challenging and interesting posts in Austrian business. Following a detailed joint transitional phase, I shall hand over my function to him on 30 April 2006.’
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