Airline Leader Interview with SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki

Max Kownatzki started his career in 2002 at the strategy consultancy Oliver Wyman in New York and Munich. Until 2013, he advised clients from the airline industry as Senior Partner with a special focus on strategic alliances and commercial airline topics. In 2013, he was appointed Chief Strategy Officer of the Australian Jetstar Group, a subsidiary of Qantas Airways. Two years later, in 2015 he joined Lufthansa as Chief Commercial Officer of Eurowings Europe and then headed the establishment and development of the company within the Wings Project. Subsequently, as Senior Vice President he was in charge of business development at Eurowings. From 2017 to 2020, he was accountable for network planning and strategic alliances of the hub airlines Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and also a member of the Supervisory Board of Air Dolomiti. He has been the CEO of SunExpress since April 2020. Max Kownatzki studied business administration in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and subsequently obtained his doctoral degree. He holds a commercial pilot’s license.