SunExpress appoints Jens Bischof as new managing director

Nov 26, 2016: Jens Bischof has been appointed as managing director of SunExpress, a Deutsche Lufthansa/Turkish Airlines joint venture, with effect from January 1, 2017. Jens Bischof succeeds Jaan Albrecht, who in agreement with the Supervisory Board is leaving the Executive Management effective December 31, 2016.

?lker Ayc?, chairman of the Supervisory Board of SunExpress, commented, “The company will benefit from his extensive knowledge of the airline industry and relevant experience in the tourism sector. We are delighted that in Jens Bischof we were able to bring a highly experienced manager on board who will successfully expand the business of SunExpress in the markets that are important for us, primarily Turkey and Europe.”

In his current position as Executive Vice President Sales, Jens Bischof is in charge of the worldwide sales of all network airlines in the Lufthansa Group. In his dual role, as chief commercial officer he is also responsible for commercial operations at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt Hub. Prior to this, he was a member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Board.

He holds a degree of business administration (Dipl. Betriebswirt) from the University of Applied Sciences (AKAD) in Rendsburg and a master’s degree in Management from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Jens Bischof began his career with Lufthansa in 1990 working for Lufthansa Cargo. After holding various positions in different Lufthansa Group divisions, he took over the responsibility for the post-merger integration of SWISS International Airlines into the Lufthansa Group, in March 2005. Bischof moved to New York in 2006 as Vice President, The Americas, from where he headed Lufthansa’s sales organization and airline operations in North and Latin America for five years.

Jens Bischof is Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Lufthansa AirPlus GmbH (Neu-Isenburg, Germany) and Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board of Miles & More GmbH. Until 2016, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of JetBlue Airways Corporation (New York, USA) and a member of the Supervisory Board of SN Airholding (Brussels, Belgium). Furthermore, Jens Bishof is Vice President of the Advisory Board of BTW (Bundesverband der Deutschen Tourismusindustrie) – the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry – and a member of the Board of Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus (DZT) – the German National Tourist Bureau.