ASL Aviation Holdings Chief Executive Hugh Flynn has announced that he is to retire after 22 very successful years as Chief Executive of the ASL Group.
Hugh Flynn will retire on July 13th this year and the ASL Board has announced that effective on that date, ASL senior executive Dave Andrew has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the ASL Group.
ASL, which operates a facility at Shannon Airport, will continue to benefit from Hugh’s strategic input as he will continue to serve as a non-executive Director of ASL Aviation Holdings. He will also become non-executive Chairman of each of ASL’s subsidiary airlines in Ireland, Belgium, France and Hungary.
Dave is currently ASL’s Chief Executive Africa and Asia as well as CEO Leasing, where he holds overall responsibility for all of the Group’s fleet and leasing operations.
ASL Aviation Holdings Chairman, Charles Graham, said “today’s announcements offer continuity for ASL’s customers and opportunity for the Group led by Dave with support from Hugh and the current ASL executive team”.
Charles paid tribute to Hugh saying he had “provided superb leadership in over 35 years in Group companies and 22 years as Chief Executive of ASL”.
“ASL has made a profit every year since its inception, irrespective of the prevailing global economic situations,” said Charles. “The Group fleet has grown to more than 130 aircraft and now operates on 6 continents, a testimony to Hugh’s strategic performance and unwavering commitment to ASL’s customers”, Charles continued.
The ASL Chairman welcomed Dave to his new role as Group Chief Executive saying that “sound succession planning meant that we had a very experienced and talented ASL Group executive ready and able to step into the CEO role”.
“Dave’s association with ASL goes back 30 years to when he joined Safair. He ran the airline’s passenger and cargo services including their commercial Hercules humanitarian operations,” said Charles, “and then as Chief Executive of that airline he led the launch and became the first CEO of the highly successful low-cost carrier, FlySafair,” Charles continued.
Hugh is a commercial pilot and said he “plans to enjoy a bit of flying and spend more time with friends and family.” Hugh further commented, “I also look forward to my continuing role in the ASL Group and to supporting my friend and colleague, Dave Andrew, in his new role. I am confident that the ASL Group is in the best hands and will continue to provide exceptional service and reliability to our customers”.
Dave Andrew said, “I am very honoured to have been appointed to this role and for the confidence placed in me by the ASL Board”.
“Hugh built ASL into a world leader in aviation services and has led the Group with integrity and expertise that have made him one of the most credible and admired global aviation executives”, said Dave.
“We have tough challenges ahead in these difficult times, but I step into the CEO role confident in the commitment and ability of the ASL team”, Dave concluded.
ASL Aviation Holdings has 4 European airlines, 2 associate airlines in Africa and Asia, MRO interests and several leasing entities. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the ASL group has a fleet of 130 aircraft, ranging from the Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo’ freighter to the ATR 72 turboprop.
The Boeing 737 forms the backbone of the ASL fleet, with passenger and freighter versions operating in Europe, Africa and Asia. In 2019 ASL added the first Boeing 737-800NG aircraft to both passenger and freight fleets, and at Paris Air Show, announced an order from Boeing for 10 Boeing 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters and purchase rights for a further 10.
During the global coronavirus pandemic ASL’s 3 Boeing 747’s have so far transported more than 1.5 billion pieces of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) between China, Europe and the United States.