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Costa Cruises appoints new chief executive

The boss of German line AIDA Cruises is taking over as chief executive of Costa group in senior management changes announced by parent company Carnival Corporation.


The change at the helm of the Italian company which owns Costa Concordia comes on July 1 with the planned retirement of current Costa chief Pier Luigi Foschi.


Foschi, 65, will remain as chairman and a managing director of the Costa group and remain on the board of directors of Carnival Corporation.


He will continue to oversee the company’s government relations, matters related to the Costa Concordia accident and spearhead a number of strategic projects, Carnival said.


AIDA president Michael Thamm is to be in charge of the Costa group, which includes Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Spanish Ibero Cruises.


Thamm will relocate to Genoa and will report to Costa’s board of directors, which includes Carnival chairman and chief executive Micky Arison and vice chairman and chief operating officer Howard Frank.


“The moves are part of a long-term succession plan which included the scheduled retirement of Foschi once he reached the age of 65,” the US cruise giant said.


AIDA senior executive Michael Ungerer has been named as AIDA Cruises’ president and Gianni Onorato will continue as president of the Costa Cruises brand.


Arison said: “Pier has made it known for some time that he intended to retire once he turned 65 and today’s announcement is part of our longtime succession plan that allows us to tap into our talented management team to find qualified individuals to oversee our brands.


“Pier has developed Costa into a very successful and profitable organisation and we wish to thank him for his many years of dedicated service.


“At the same time, Michael has done a superb job managing AIDA Cruises and we have every confidence that Michael will continue these efforts at the helm of Costa.”

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