German carrier Lufthansa Group has appointed South African Kevin Markette as the new general manager for the East African region effective March 1 2023 after the airline relocated passenger business back to Kenya.

Mr Markette will be in charge of the airline’s operations the Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.

He succeeds Dr André Schulz, who has been appointed head of Middle East, Africa, South Asia and CIS at Lufthansa Cargo.

“It is our pleasure to welcome Kevin Markette to this important and dynamic region. We draw upon Kevin’s vast global experience, including that on the African continent to enhance our market position and trustful relationships established with our business partners and customers,’’ said Philippe Saeys-Desmedt, senior director of sales Sub-Sahara Africa at Lufthansa Group.

“Being now located with his team in the East African region, seated in Nairobi, he will quickly forge new relationships in the region.”

Mr Markette previously headed up several teams within the sales and customer service at Lufthansa Group across various cities including New York, Atlanta, Accra, Dubai, Lagos, Karachi and Johannesburg.

Educated in South Africa and qualified as a commercial pilot, he is an experienced airliner having started working for the Lufthansa Group in 2000.

Lufthansa is Europe’s biggest airline group with subsidiaries including Eurowings, Swiss, Brussels and Austrian Airlines.

The airline has been focused on leisure destinations in the region and already operates three East African routes through its Eurowings Discover network to Mombasa, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro.

Source: Business Daily