ZURICH, Switzerland – Jet Aviation announces the appointment of Alain Champonnois as the new vice president and general manager of the company’s FBO and line maintenance operations in Jeddah, Riyadh and Medina, Saudi Arabia, effective January 1, 2014.

As general manager for Jet Aviation in Saudi Arabia, Champonnois will be responsible for overseeing the company’s three FBO and line maintenance operations and will report to Stefan Benz, vice president of MRO and FBO Operations in EMEA & Asia. 

He succeeds Hardy Bütschi, who was recently appointed vice president and general manager of Jet Aviation Dubai.

Previously he served as chairman of the board of directors for the ExxonMobil Avitat Aviation Council. Champonnois holds a degree in business administration from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, Canada. 

Benz said: “Champonnois has a strong track record of leading high-performing teams in global aviation sales, business and operations development and management.

“He is committed to customer service and operational efficiency and he is a valued addition to our MRO and FBO network.”

Jet Aviation Saudi Arabia is a joint venture company with a Saudi local partners. The company currently operates three FBOs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah since 1979, Riyadh since 1983 and Medina since 2012. 

The facilities in Jeddah and Riyadh hold Saudi Arabia GACA licenses and offer FBO services, line maintenance and aircraft- on-ground (AOG) services to private, business and military operators. Jet Aviation's ground handling services at Medina include passenger handling, immigration and customs clearance, transportation, hotel and catering coordination, aircraft refueling, cleaning and turnaround assistance.