Chapman Freeborn has completed a strategic restructuring of its European cargo operations team to better manage growth in traditional and new markets.
James Gilliard has been appointed vice president of cargo sales - Europe, while Markus Schmidt has been hired as vice president of cargo commercial operations - Europe.
Gilliard will lead client acquisition and expansion into new markets, whilst Schmidt will head up brokerage operations, converting customer requests into new business opportunities.
Both Gilliard and Schmidt will report into Reto Hunziker who remains president of Europe.
“This is an exciting time to join Chapman Freeborn as it reinvigorates its sales drive into new untapped markets,” said Gilliard.
“With strong growth projected in the energy and government sectors, this forward-looking strategy ensures Chapman Freeborn is agile enough to seize these opportunities and continues to deliver the same high-quality service our customers expect.”
“After directing cargo operations across the DACH region for the last two years, I look forward to now leading Chapman Freeborn’s cargo charter brokers across the continent,” said Schmidt.
“Our restructured team will engage more closely with new and existing customers to better align with market trends and aggressively target growth.”
In addition to the restructuring, Chapman Freeborn has appointed a general sales agent in Eastern Europe, a new position which aims to boost its coverage across the European Union and diversify its sales base.
“With over 45 years’ experience working in the air cargo industry between them, James and Markus are ideally placed to ensure our team is responsive to volatile market conditions, and I look forward to working with them in this capacity,” commented Hunziker.
Bernardo Nunes was appointed as Chapman Freeborn’s chief operating officer in November last year.
In a recent interview with Air Cargo News, group chief executive Eric Erbacher said the company had plans to continue growing its workforce.
In 2020 there were just under 280 people, this has since increased to 450 members of staff and there are plans to grow its workforce to 1,000.
