The Hindu Business Line : BIAL chief to step down

Mr Albert Brunner, Chief Executive Officer of the seven-year-old Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) and the man who has left a clear mark on the private-run airports in the country, is moving on. The Chief Operations Officer, Mr Marcel Hungerbuehler, will takeover as the CEO from February 1, 2009, BIAL said in a release.

Mr Brunner’s contract with Unique Zurich Airport, one of the three private sector promoters in BIAL and the airport, was from 2002 to April 2009. His next course was not immediately known. Earlier this month, he was in Zurich, where Unique is based and runs the Zurich airport.

Mr Brunner was quoted as saying, “I have greatly appreciated the various excellent interactions with business leaders, politicians, officials, the highly competent and motivated staff of BIAL and personal friends over all these years and my decision to leave BIAL is purely personally motivated. After seven years in this position, the time for a change has come. I initially came here on a three-year contract but ended up making Bangalore my home for seven years.”

The present COO, Mr Hungerbüehler, came in two years back and presided over the transition from the HAL airport to the new project. He has 38 years’ experience in the aviation industry, including senior management positions with Swissair and Swissport, the release said.

The change of guard comes at a time when the airport is in the grip of the global aviation slump, lowered traffic projections from 11-12 million to 9.2 million and reported a Rs 10-crore loss in the first six months of operations.

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