Moneysupermarket marketing chief Kenny Jacobs has been named as chief marketing officer for Ryanair as part of a raft of management changes at the budget carrier.
The shake-up comes into effect from February 1 and comes as the airline moves to improve its customer service and expand its network across Europe.
Eight further internal changes are being made, including Peter Bellew being promoted from deputy director of flight operations to head of sales and marketing.
Lesley Kane, who was previously head of sales and marketing, becomes head of groups and corporate sales.
David O’Brien, previously operations director, is promoted to become chief commercial officer.
Former deputy head of web development Dara Brady steps up to become head of web development.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “These new promotions and positions concludes the first significant senior management reorganisation since Ryanair joined the Stock Market in 1997.
“I believe we have demonstrated the strength of Ryanair’s wider management team with a series of internal promotions, both within and across various divisions of the airline, as well as welcoming Kenny Jacobs, who joins us from Moneysupermarket, and will bring a new and fresh impetus to Ryanair’s marketing activities over the coming months as we roll out significant customer service improvements, a brilliant new website from April and a fantastic, easy-to-use mobile app from the end of June.”
Ryanair plans to grow from 80 million to more than 110 million passengers a year over the next five years.
New bases are opening this summer in Rome Fiumicino, Brussels Zaventem, Palermo, Catania and Lamezia in southern Italy and Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece.