49-year-old Lorenzo Stoll has been appointed new Head of Cargo at Swiss International Air Lines and will assume his position on 01APR21. The manager succeeds former cargo helmsman, Ashwin Bhat, who has been named Chief Commercial officer of Lufthansa Cargo, and will be taking up his new role on 01MAR21.
The message aired by Swiss CFO, Markus Binkert, was very brief: “I am happy to announce that Lorenzo Stoll has been appointed Head of Cargo at Swiss International Air Lines.” It was
followed by a short description of Stoll's professional career, and his achievements as the Swiss Airline’s Head of Western Switzerland, where he and his team successfully secured the premium
positioning of Swiss, safeguarding the vital connection of Western Switzerland to various global and regional markets.
New in air freight
Stoll joined Swiss in 2013. He came over from Nestlé, where he had held various positions in different divisions at the multinational food company’s Vevey headquarters at Lake Geneva, followed by
management assignments in Frankfurt and Paris. Prior to Nestlé, he was Sales & Marketing Manager at Montreux-Vevey Tourism.
The Zurich-born manager graduated from the hotel management school in Lausanne and grew up mostly in the French speaking part of Switzerland.
“I am pleased that, in Lorenzo Stoll, we have appointed such a skilled and seasoned expert from our own ranks,” Swiss CFO, Binkert commented. “Lorenzo has been instrumental in
ensuring our success in Geneva and our positioning as a premium carrier. I’m convinced that, with his wide experience in the commercial, the consumer goods, and the aviation fields, he will be
just as effective in further developing our air cargo division.”
Unknown name
Mr. Stoll’s appointment came as a surprise to most members of the Swiss air cargo community because, unlike his predecessors, Oliver Evans or Ashwin Bhat, he hasn’t played a leading role in the
air freight industry prior to his nomination. This was confirmed by President Peter Somaglia of the association IG Air Cargo Switzerland, who told Cargo Forwarder Global that he is looking
forward to a first meeting to get to know him personally and learn about his aims in his new role as Swiss WorldCargo’s freight chief.
Travel diplomacy
The same is likely to be true for leading freight forwarders, ground handlers, warehouse operators, representatives of pharmaceutical companies, and other industries.
However, it can be assumed that travel diplomacy will be high on Stoll's agenda for the next couple of weeks and months, to introduce himself in person to the regional heads of Swiss World Cargo
and their teams.
Meanwhile, the search for Stoll’s successor to oversee SWISS’s key Geneva market is under way.
Heiner Siegmund
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