Singapore Airlines (SIA) has appointed Goh Choon Phong to succeed Chew Choon Seng as CEO with effect from 1 January 2011.

Goh, 47, is currently SIA's executive VP for marketing and the regions, and is also chairman of SIA's subsidiary SilkAir.

He joined SIA in 1990 and served as president of SIA Cargo before being appointed to his current role earlier this year.

"During his twenty years with SIA, he has worked in various divisions, ranging from marketing to IT to finance and cargo, and demonstrated his versatility and leadership," says Chew, who is retiring after seven years as CEO.

"I am confident that, with the support of all colleagues in SIA and the guidance of the directors, Choon Phong and the rest of the management team will uphold SIA's core values."

SIA's chairman Stephen Lee says Chew, who became CEO in June 2003, has "successfully steered the SIA group through some of its most challenging times, including the SARS outbreak of 2003 and more recently the global economic downturn".

"Under Choon Seng's leadership, the SIA group not only maintained its unbroken record of full-year profitability, it set new profitability records while remaining innovative, including through the successful introduction of the world's largest aircraft, the Airbus A380, in 2007," says Lee.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news