Change of leadership at Hamburg Aviation: Michael Vollrath takes over as managing director

Hamburg Aviation sets a new course for the future of the region’s aviation industry: Michael Vollrath will take over as managing director of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region’s aviation cluster, effective 1 July 2026. He succeeds Ralf Gust, who is retiring after almost four years at the helm of Hamburg Aviation.

With Michael Vollrath, Hamburg Aviation gains an experienced aviation manager with more than two decades of industry experience. Most recently, he served as managing director of the components supplier Spairliners, a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance. At his preceding post at Lufthansa Technik, his responsibilities included programme management, business development and controlling, overseeing numerous strategic transformation and digitalisation projects. He will now bring his many years of experience at the interface between corporate strategy, operational business and international cooperation to bear on the further development of the cluster.

With this change of managing director, Hamburg Aviation is continuing on its course: to further enhance the competitiveness of Hamburg as an aviation hub, in collaboration with its members. Key priorities include the transition to more sustainable aviation, digitalisation, securing a skilled workforce, and fostering close links between industry, academia and politics.

“In Michael Vollrath, we have gained a managing director who, thanks to his many years of experience in the industry, is very familiar with the challenges and opportunities facing the aviation sector in Hamburg. His strategic expertise and extensive network within the industry will provide important impetus for the further development of our cluster,” says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerko Wende, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hamburg Aviation e.V., adding: “We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Ralf Gust for his tremendous commitment and his highly successful work for Hamburg Aviation over the past few years. We now wish him all the best for his well-deserved retirement.” 

Michael Vollrath says: “Hamburg is one of the world’s leading aviation hubs. This strong network delivers the ideal conditions for driving innovation forward. I look forward to actively helping to shape the future of aviation in the Hamburg metropolitan region, together with the experienced team at Hamburg Aviation and our members within the network. Together, we want to continue intensifying the transformation of the industry through concrete projects and close collaboration.”

Ralf Gust took over as Managing Director of Hamburg Aviation in September 2022 and guided the cluster through a crucial phase in the wake of the pandemic. Under his leadership, key future-oriented topics such as sustainable aviation, securing a skilled workforce and urban air mobility were further developed, whilst collaboration within the network was continuously strengthened.