SunExpress chief executive Max Kownatzki will leave to take up the same position at Eurowings, with Marcus Schnabel becoming the new chief of the Turkish Airlines-Lufthansa Group joint venture.

Kownatzki will replace current Eurowings chief executive Jens Bischof, who will step down after more than five years leading the low-cost carrier and around 35 years with Lufthansa Group, Eurowings said on 11 December.

Kownatzki returns to the Lufthansa Group having joined SunExpress from there in 2020, while Schnabel will join SunExpress from his current role in charge of ground operations at Lufthansa Airlines’ Munich hub.

The changes will happen at the end of January 2026.

Kownatzki steered leisure operator SunExpress through the Covid-19 crisis while overseeing the closure of the business’s German unit, with the airline achieving record results in 2024. He previously worked for Eurowings in a chief commercial officer role, having joined Lufthansa Group from Jetstar Group in Australia.

Among his achievements, Schnabel oversaw a “wide-ranging turnaround programme” at Lufthansa’s Munich hub.

Bischof, meanwhile, ”guided Eurowings through one of the most difficult phases in aviation with impressive passion, courage and a clear customer focus”, says Michael Niggemann, member of the executive board of Lufthansa Group.