Dr Babett Stapel is the new Managing Director of Fraport Slovenija  

Zg. Brnik, 1. oktober 2021 –  From today onwards, Dr Babett Stapel is taking over the management of Fraport Slovenija. The term of the previous Chief Managing Director, Zmago Skobir, expired on September 30. Skobir will remain in the company as a Procurator and Advisor to the management.

The new Managing Director, Dr Babett Stapel, joined Fraport Slovenija, d.o.o., in 2016 as a Procurator and Chief Finance, Administrative and Commercial Officer. Since July she was co-managing the company as Managing Director. During her time at Fraport Slovenija she was directly responsible for the departments of finance and accounting, planning and controlling, commercial, airport services, integrated management systems, human resources and education and real estate management. Her broad scope of responsibility allowed her not only to obtain an in-depth knowledge of the company but to become a decisive contributor in managing the company. She will continue leading her departments with the exception of real estate management. She will also be responsible for corporate communication, legal department and internal audit.

Dr Stapel has 21 years of experience in aviation industry, 10 of which were on executive management positions. In addition to being part of the parent company Fraport AG, she also served at airports in Bulgaria and Peru.

Dr Babett Stapel is a lawyer (PhD) graduated from the University of Hamburg, Germany with a complementary education in business administration (MBA) from the University of Nottingham, England. She finished her law studies after a two years legal clerkship in Hamburg, Germany, with the bar exam in 1998.    

Zmago Skobir was leading the airport for more than 14 years. Skobir joined at that time Aerodrom Ljubljana in 2002 and was appointed to the Management Board a year later. In 2007 he took over the role of the President of the Management Board.   The position was changed to Managing Director in 2015, after Aerodrom was sold to Fraport AG and was transformed from a public limited to a limited liability company.

During Skobir's management of the company Ljubljana Airport transformed significantly. Route network started to expand and airport infrastructure was enlarged and improved. After his appointment as the President of the Management Board the extension of the old passenger terminal was opened.

This was followed by the implementation of Schengen border regime and first presidency of Slovenia of the EU Council. The Masterplan of the airport was designed and key infrastructure with runway and manoeuvre surfaces was thoroughly renovated. The land plots next to the airport were prepared for further commercial development. In years 2014 and 2015 the airport operator went from State into private ownership. Rapid development and growth of passengers in 2018 and 2019 was followed by the bankruptcy of domestic airline, which until then was by far the largest and most important business partner of the company. Traffic began to recover immediately after the bankruptcy, but it was only six months later that an epidemic of coronavirus resulted in dramatic decline of traffic.

At the end of Skobir's term one of the largest achievements of Ljubljana Airport – a new passenger terminal – was built and opened.    

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