Max Kownatzki takes over as CEO of Eurowings
Former SunExpress CEO starts first day at Germany’s largest leisure airline
Eurowings has a new CEO. Max Kownatzki officially took office on Monday as chief executive officer of Germany’s largest leisure airline. The 53-year-old previously served as CEO of SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa Group and Turkish Airlines. He succeeds Jens Bischof, who stepped down at the end of 2025 at his own request.
During his tenure at SunExpress, Kownatzki guided the German-Turkish airline successfully through the covid crisis, doubled its fleet to over 85 aircraft, and subsequently led the airline on a strong growth trajectory with record financial results.
Kownatzki began his first day at Eurowings with a welcome event at the airline’s headquarters at Cologne/Bonn Airport, where he was officially welcomed by fellow managing directors Kai Duve and Edi Wolfensberger. He took the opportunity to meet numerous employees, catch up with old friends, and engage in direct exchange.
“What Eurowings has built over the past few years deserves the utmost respect,” Kownatzki said. “Today, Eurowings stands for impressive customer service and a strong value-for-money offer – all while achieving sustainable economic success. I very much look forward to shaping the next phase of Eurowings’ success story together with this great team.”
Eurowings is familiar territory for Kownatzki. In 2015, he co-founded Eurowings Europe and served as chief commercial officer. He later became senior vice president responsible for business development at Eurowings. He began his career in 2002 at strategy consulting firm Oliver Wyman, where he was a senior partner advising international airlines on alliances and commercial strategy until 2013. He then served as chief strategy officer at Jetstar, a subsidiary of Qantas Airways. In 2017, he joined Lufthansa Group, taking responsibility for network planning and strategic alliances for the group’s hub airlines, and became a member of the supervisory board of Air Dolomiti. He served as CEO of SunExpress from April 2020 until joining Eurowings.
Max Kownatzki is German-American and holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen / Switzerland. He is a licensed commercial pilot and father of two children.