Aer Arann Chairman, Padraig O'Ceidigh, has announced the appointment of Paul Schütz as the airline's Chief Executive Designate.

Schütz will take over as Chief Executive on 1 January 2009, and on the same day, Aer Arann's current CEO, Garry Cullen, will become a non-executive Board Director.

Aer Arann Managing Director Paul Shültz.

Paul Schütz joined Aer Arann in 2006 as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. He has more than 18 years experience in the airline industry including senior finance and general management roles. He is a Management Accountant and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Company founder O' Ceidigh is optimistic about the transition. "These are excellent appointments for Aer Arann because they offer both a smooth transition period and high levels of continuity as we continue with our development plans", he said.

"We have known for some time that Garry was due to retire", he continued, "and it was important for us to retain his expertise on the Board and to appoint a new CEO with the experience, ability and drive that will allow Aer Arann to build on our success as Europe's fastest growing regional airline".

Paul Schütz began his airline industry career with Ryanair before moving to British Airways as Finance Analyst. He went on to become Director of Finance and Administration in Virgin Express and then moved to BWIA West Indies Airways initially as Chief Financial Officer and later becoming Joint General Manager. He later joined Eirjet as Managing Director in 2004 before he was recruited to join Aer Arann two years later.

Paul Schütz was raised in Limerick and was educated at Villiers school. He is 41 and is married with three children.

Reacting to his appointment, Paul Schütz said he was looking forward to, "leading Aer Arann's team of talented and committed airline professionals. There is no doubt that these are challenging times for the airline industry globally", he said, "but I believe we have both the right fleet and route network to allow us to face those challenges by building on our direct access business model". "Our new ATR-72 aircraft are highly fuel efficient", he continued, "and as more join the fleet they will increase our ability to compete effectively while maintaining superior levels of customer service".

Both Padraig O'Ceidigh and Paul Schütz praised outgoing Chief Executive Garry Cullen for his outstanding contribution to Aer Arann and to the Irish airline industry.