SkyWork Airlines safeguards its Berne programme and enters into a strategic partnership with MHS Aviation

Significant opportunities exist for cost cutting, particularly in maintenance and certain administrative tasks in flight operations. As far as customers are concerned, nothing will change. SkyWork Airlines will continue to fly with its crew from Berne to the planned destinations. The forthcoming winter flight schedule contains nine business and holiday destinations. In addition to cost savings, the strategic partnership also opens up new market opportunities, thereby safeguarding the long-term future of the existing flight schedule from Berne. Furthermore, SkyWork Airlines has been able to attract additional partners who want to develop the Berne location in collaboration with SkyWork Airlines. Tomislav Lang, shareholder and CEO of SkyWork Airlines, was the initiator of the partnership and has paved the way for it with the provision of his shares in SkyWork Airlines. In the course of this, he is withdrawing as shareholder and relinquishing his office as CEO to Rolf Hartleb.

Despite the generally positive trend at SkyWork Airlines (Note to editorial offices: Please also see today’s media release and the winter flight schedule) the aviation industry still faces major challenges: Among these great challenges which also impact on the regional airlines are the unrelenting pressure on prices, high costs and intense competition. Saving costs and creating synergies are the recipes for a secure and sustainable future. For this reason SkyWork Airlines and MHS Aviation have together sought out constructive strategies with which they will be able to exploit synergies more efficiently and achieve economies of scale.

The flight programme from Berne remains unchanged
The aircraft and crews will continue to be stationed in Berne and fulfil the existing flight programme. The cooperation will thus not result in any changes for the people of Berne.

Partnership brings valuable synergies
What particularly tipped the scales for the step with MHS Aviation was the fact that MHS Aviation operates the same aircraft type (Dornier 328) and can thus undertake certain areas of flight operations. This includes flight planning and crew rosters for example. At the same time, MHS Aviation also offers significantly more efficient maintenance. This will enable an immediate reduction in major cost drivers, leading to an improvement in the economic efficiency of both companies.
The two companies SkyWork Airlines and MHS Aviation are also each taking equal reciprocal shareholdings in the other company, thus creating the basis for a balanced and equal partnership. The partnership and reciprocal shareholdings were initiated and made possible by Tomislav Lang. By his withdrawal as shareholder of SkyWork Airlines, he has paved the way for this step and opened the door to new investors at the same time. With the sale of his shareholding to SkyWork Airlines, Lang is also relinquishing his position as CEO in favour of Rolf Hartleb, the former Chief Operating Officer of SkyWork Airlines, with immediate effect. Chairman of the Board of Directors Sébastien Mérillat: “I deeply regret Tomislav Lang’s decision. He was the driving force in the development of SkyWork Airlines and has striven day and night to maintain Berne’s links with Europe. I salute his decision and will miss his tireless and dedicated manner. At the same time, I am very happy to have found a highly experienced aviation expert to succeed him in the person of Rolf Hartleb“. Hartleb has held a wide range of management positions for different well-known airlines and aviation companies in recent years. Among other things, he was CEO of Lufthansa subsidiaries for many years as well as CEO of a KLM subsidiary in the USA for 5 years and CEO of a subsidiary of the Canadian company CAE, the world market leader in flight simulators for 5 years. As an acknowledged expert and aircraft captain, he sits on various airline industry committees such as the Flight Safety Association and as delegate of the European Regional Airlines Association (ERA).

The other members of the management board, Kirsten Steingrüber (CFO) and Tom Kurzweg (Chief Commercial Officer) remain in their roles. A successor for Rolf Hartleb as COO is to be appointed at the earliest possible opportunity.