Lufthansa Names New Cargo Chief

In a manag;ement change at the top of one of Europe’s largest airlines, Lufthansa German Airlines’ board elected Lufthansa Cargo chief Carsten Spohr chief executive of the overall airline on Thursday and named Karl Ulrich Gamadt to succeed him as chairman and CEO of the cargo business.

Spohr, 43, will take over leadership of the European carrier on Jan. 1, 2011 after leading Lufthansa Cargo through the steep global economic downturn and back to profitability.

Garnadt, 53, will move to the cargo operation at the same time after serving as the board member in charge of hub management and passenger services. He will run the cargo side, which includes one of Europe’s largest freighter fleets.

He was at Lufthansa Cargo for more than 10 years before joining the passenger side, and was a product manager in Europe for cargo and the head of network management.

Lufthansa said Garnadt will serve a three-year appointment as head of cargo, which the company said was “in accordance with group custom.”