Theo Panagiotoulias

Star Alliance appoints new CEO

Star Alliance has elected Theo Panagiotoulias as its new CEO. He replaces Charlotta Wieland, who will become interim CEO of SAS - Scandinavian Airlines from January 2023 and rejoin the Star Alliance Board in this position. Panagiotoulias' appointment will follow in the coming months.

Panagiotoulias has more than 25 years of international experience in the airline and aviation industry. He joins from Hawaiian Airlines, where he was Senior VP of Global Sales and Alliances since 2014. Prior to that, he was VP and GM (Asia Pacific) at travel technology provider Sabre Corporation and spent 15 years in various commercial, operational and management roles at American Airlines.

"On behalf of the Star Alliance Board of Directors, I would like to congratulate Theo on his appointment as the next CEO of Star Alliance," said Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines and Chairman of the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board. "Theo's international trade and airline experience has given him a good understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our industry today. I believe he is the right person to lead Star Alliance into the future."

Star Alliance celebrated its 25th anniversary and was named the best airline alliance in the world by Skytrax in the same year. The airline alliance has 26 member airlines. Key milestones include the launch of the world's first airline alliance credit card with HSBC Australia and the creation of an intermodal travel model that extends the alliance's network beyond air travel to other transportation networks such as rail.

www.staralliance.com