07:04 GMT, April 21, 2009 ODOLENA VODA | Aero Vodochody, the largest aerospace manufacturer in the Czech Republic, today announced the appointment of St-John Williamson as Vice President Business Development & Sales. The Strategic Advisory Board of Aero has been reinforced by two senior consultants – Johann Heitzmann and Simon Luxmoore.

Igor Hulák, President of Aero Vodochody, said: “I am very pleased to welcome St-John to the company and Johann and Simon to our Strategic Advisory Board. They all bring with them extensive experience in aerospace industry which will be very valuable to us as we continue to grow and develop our business.”

St-John Williamson has 25+ years experience in the aircraft industry working for British Aerospace, Turbomeca and Rolls Royce. In Aero he will mainly be responsible for developing and maintaining key senior level customer contacts, assessment of marketing opportunities, penetrating the target markets, support of existing programs and attracting new customers.

St-John Williamson, Vice President Business Development & Sales of Aero Vodochody, said: "I am very excited to be part of such a traditional Czech company which has gone through dynamic development in recent years. I look forward to working on the plan of creating a new European aerospace holding to further strengthen the position of Aero in the international aerostructures market.”
Prior to joining Aero Vodochody St-John held a role of Senior Vice President Customer Business Europe at Rolls Royce and Managing Director of Turbomeca subsidiary companies in the UK and Australia. He has a Business Economics degree from Coventry University, UK.

Johann Heitzmann devoted all his professional life to aerospace industry, starting in 1980 at Dornier GmbH, Germany. Before he became an independent consultant in 2008, he held several top executive positions at Daimler Chrysler Aerospace GmbH (Vice President and General Manager/Member of the Executive Committee Defense and Civil Systems) and European Aerospace Defense & Space Company – EADS (CEO & President Defense Electronics, CEO & President Military, Member of the Board of Management, Defense Division), both in Germany. He has finished mechanical engineering studies at Technical University Constance, Germany.

Simon Luxmoore spent almost 20 years with the Dowty group and Messier – Dowty International where he held a number of executive positions, such as Head of Design Engineering, Business and Development Vice President, Group Vice President and finally Senior Vice President. Between 2004 and 2008 he was also the non executive Director of the Society of British Aerospace Companies. He obtained an MBA from the University of Bath and is a Fellow of The Royal Aeronautical Society.

The new position of Vice President Business Development & Sales is a part of an updated organization structure of the management of Aero Vodochody. The Strategic Advisory Board is a non executive advisory body consisting of the top managers of Aero, its shareholder Penta Investments and independent aerospace consultants.