The sudden departure of Malta International Airport’s CEO was a “big surprise”, according to sources close to the company.
In a terse company statement on Wednesday, MIA announced that CEO and executive director Markus Klaushofer was leaving office “with immediate effect” and that chief commercial officer Alan Borg would be CEO ad interim.
The sources said the decision was “totally unexpected” and came as a “big surprise.”
Mr Klaushofer was appointed CEO in January 2012 and the sources said his three-year contract, which expired at the end of last year, was expected to be renewed.
According to the sources, the decision about Mr Klaushofer was communicated on Wednesday during a board meeting of MIA held in Vienna where the majority shareholder – Vienna International Airport – has its headquarters.
“We don’t know exactly why Mr Klaushofer was removed although the decision was taken in Vienna and not in Malta,” the sources noted.
Since its privatisation in 2002, MIA always had a non-Maltese CEO. If confirmed in his position, Mr Borg will therefore become the first Maltese to occupy the top post.
Before being assigned to Malta, Mr Klaushofer occupied many important posts within the Vienna International Airport group including a seven-year stint at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, which the Austrian company also controls.
Apart from Vienna International Airport, Malta Mediterranean Link Consortium, which has a 40 per cent shareholding in MIA, also includes SNC-Lavalin, a Canadian company, and Maltese firm Bianchi & Company Ltd.
The rest of the shares are owned by Vienna International Airport alone (10.1 per cent), the Maltese government (20 per cent) and individual shareholders (29.9 per cent).
Mr Klaushofer was not available for comment yesterday.