Thomas Cook UK and Ireland chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa has been promoted to Thomas Cook AG chairman of the management board and group chief executive.
The announcement was made yesterday with immediate effect and will see Fontenla-Novoa continuing to be based in Peterborough where he is currently based.
He said: “It is both an honour and a privilege to be given the opportunity to lead one of the world’s largest travel groups.
“For the last two years we have delivered strong profits and this, together with a new strategic focus to embed across the group, will enable us to continue our journey of growth and development.”
Fontenla-Novoa has held the UK position for the last three years during which time the company has improved its profit turn around by £130 million from an annual loss of £50 million to last year’s recorded profit of £83.3 million. The company also achieved the 5% margin last year for the first time.
He has worked in travel for 30 years having joined Thomas Cook at the age of 18 before rejoining the operator in 1996 when it bought up Sunworld, a company which he was one of the founding directors of.