Brussels Airlines Names ITA Airways Executive Lorenza Maggio as New CEO

Brussels Airlines has named Lorenza Maggio as its next Chief Executive Officer. The Belgian carrier, part of the Lufthansa Group, announced the appointment as it prepares for a leadership transition in early 2026.

Maggio currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer at ITA Airways, the Italian national carrier that recently joined the Lufthansa Group. She will take over from Dorothea von Boxberg, who has led Brussels Airlines since 2023 and is moving on to a new role within the Lufthansa Group.

Who is Lorenza Maggio

Maggio brings more than two decades of experience in the aviation sector. Before her current position at ITA Airways, she held senior roles at Alitalia, where she built her career across commercial, network planning, and strategy functions. Her background covers revenue management, alliances, and network development, areas central to running a full-service European airline.

At ITA Airways, Maggio has been part of the leadership team steering the carrier through its integration with the Lufthansa Group, which took a stake in the Italian airline earlier this year. That experience places her in a familiar position as she moves to another Lufthansa Group subsidiary.

Timing of the transition

According to the announcement, Maggio will officially assume her new role at Brussels Airlines in January 2026. Until then, Dorothea von Boxberg will continue to lead the airline. The Lufthansa Group has indicated that von Boxberg will take up a new position within the group, though details of that role have not been fully disclosed.

The change comes at a moment when Brussels Airlines is working through the broader restructuring efforts underway across the Lufthansa Group. The parent company has been reorganizing its network carriers to improve financial performance and coordinate operations more closely across its brands, which include Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, and now ITA Airways.
 

Brussels Airlines Overview

Brussels Airlines operates as the largest airline based in Belgium and serves as a key connector between Europe and Africa. The carrier flies to destinations across Europe, North America, and sub-Saharan Africa from its hub at Brussels Airport. It employs several thousand staff and runs a fleet of Airbus narrowbody and widebody aircraft.

The airline has faced a challenging decade, including the impact of the 2016 Brussels Airport attacks, financial pressures that led to its full acquisition by Lufthansa in 2017, and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under von Boxberg, the carrier returned to profitability and worked on expanding its long-haul network, particularly toward Africa.

Maggio inherits an airline that has stabilized but continues to face competitive pressure from low-cost carriers on short-haul routes and from Gulf and African airlines on long-haul markets. Fuel costs, labor negotiations, and capacity planning will remain central issues for the new CEO.
 

Statements from the company

The Lufthansa Group and Brussels Airlines confirmed the appointment through official statements. Announcing the decision, Lufthansa Group Chief Commercial Officer Dieter Vranckx described Maggio as "a highly accomplished and internationally experienced airline executive" who "knows the industry and our group from various leadership positions at different companies." 

He added that her experience would enable her to lead Brussels Airlines "as an integrated hub airline within the Lufthansa Group." Vranckx also welcomed the appointment from within the company's own ranks and thanked outgoing CEO Dorothea von Boxberg for her years of service to the Lufthansa Group. Brussels Airlines said Maggio's commercial background and her experience within a Lufthansa Group airline make her well suited to lead the next phase of the carrier's development. The company emphasized continuity with the group's broader strategy, which includes closer coordination between its network airlines on fleet, distribution, and customer offerings.

What Is Next?

For Brussels Airlines employees, customers, and partners, the immediate impact of the announcement is limited. Day to day operations will continue under the current management until Maggio takes over. The airline has not signaled any major changes to its network or fleet strategy tied to the leadership change.

Longer term, industry observers will watch how Maggio positions Brussels Airlines within the expanding Lufthansa Group. With ITA Airways now part of the same family, questions will arise about how the group balances its various brands and hubs, including Brussels, Zurich, Vienna, Rome, and Milan, alongside Frankfurt and Munich.

Maggio's arrival also reflects a broader pattern within the Lufthansa Group of moving executives between its subsidiaries to share expertise and align strategies. Her time at ITA Airways during its integration phase gives her direct experience with the kind of coordination the group is pursuing across its portfolio.

The appointment adds to a series of leadership changes across European aviation in recent months, as carriers adjust to shifting demand patterns, cost pressures, and consolidation trends. Brussels Airlines, with a new CEO set to take office in January, is positioning itself for the next chapter under the Lufthansa umbrella.