As of January 1, 2020, Marcel de Nooijer (51) will start as Transavia CEO. He succeeds Mattijs ten Brink, who left Transavia on 30 September 2019. Marcel de Nooijer is currently Executive Vice President Air France-KLM Cargo and Managing Director at Martinair. In addition, commercial director Erik-Jan Gelink has indicated that he will leave Transavia at the end of this year.
Transavia is pleased with the appointment of Marcel de Nooijer and sees him as an excellent chairman of the management team. Marcel de Nooijer: “I am looking forward to working at Transavia. Transavia is a fantastic company that has expanded its strong brand and services in recent years with great entrepreneurial spirit, courage and creativity. With a lot of energy I will start working with the entire Transavia team on 1 January.”
Pieter Elbers, President and CEO of KLM: “In recent years, Marcel has led the freight division of Air France-KLM, with a successful digital transformation and improvement of operational results at KLM Cargo. We are happy that we have a new Transavia CEO with Marcel, who can continue to build on Transavia in the coming years. ”
With his experience in the aviation industry for both passage and cargo, and his commercial and operational background, Marcel will make an important contribution to further strengthening Transavia’s position in the market. Dave del Canho, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Transavia: “We are very happy with the arrival of Marcel. It fits our DNA, with our employees and passengers at the heart of everything we do. ”
Departure of commercial director Erik-Jan Gelink
After more than three years, commercial director Erik-Jan Gelink will close his assignment with Transavia on 1 January 2020. Dirk Neelis, CFO and interim CEO Transavia: “In recent years, Erik-Jan has taken the commercial organization to a higher level and has made a significant contribution to Transavia’s commercial success. He leaves behind a strong self-organizing commercial team.” Erik-Jan Gelink:” I had a wonderful time at Transavia with skilled and enthusiastic colleagues. I am convinced that this commercial team will further strengthen our number one market position as a low-cost carrier in the Netherlands. I am looking forward to a new challenge and have chosen to continue my career outside of Transavia.”
The appointment of Marcel as CEO and the departure of Erik-Jan is a natural moment to optimize the composition of the Transavia management team and the division of tasks within the team along the lines of the strategic priorities and the management model of the company. This gives substance to the intention to go from four to three members of the board.