Swiss leisure airline Edelweiss Air has appointed a new CEO as current leader Bernd Bauer prepares to step down after leading the carrier for 12 years.
On July 31, 2026, Edelweiss announced that the current Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Eurowings, Edi Wolfensberger, would take over as its new CEO on October 1, 2026.
The 45-year-old Swiss national previously served as Managing Director of Lufthansa Aviation Training Switzerland and began his career in 2008 at SWISS.
“It is a great honor for me to take over the helm at Edelweiss,” Wolfensberger said. “Bernd Bauer and his team have developed the company superbly in recent years and successfully positioned it as a premium holiday airline. I am very much looking forward to continuing this success story together with the staff and leading Edelweiss into the future.”
Under Bauer’s leadership, the Edelweiss network expanded from around 40 to over 100 destinations and went from around 500 employees to almost 1,700.
“Edelweiss has always been a labor of love for me,” Bauer said. “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues at Edelweiss and across the Lufthansa Group for their trust and excellent cooperation. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past few years. I am proud of what we have achieved together, and I am convinced that Edelweiss will continue to be successful in the future.”
Bauer began his career in aviation in 1994 at Crossair and held various management roles at SWISS from 2002 onwards, before taking over as head of Edelweiss in 2014. From 2022 to 2025, he also served as CEO of Lufthansa’s holiday airline, Discover Airlines.
“Throughout his exceptional career within the Lufthansa Group, Bernd Bauer has played a pivotal role in advancing the holiday airline sector and has thus made a significant contribution to the success of the entire Group,” said Dieter Vranckx, CCO of the Lufthansa Group.