Nico Buchholz is a 30+ year accomplished global Aerospace and Mobility C-Suite Executive with an educational background in aeronautical engineering and management from establishments in North America and several European countries. His unique portfolio of experiences covers all continents. His broad skillset is recognized in areas such as technical developments for new aviation products as well network planning, operations, technical customer support, contract negotiations, strategy, communications, marketing and sales, procurement paired with an unbiased analytical approach combined with engaging and mobilizing teams focussing on global mobility.

His career so far spans the EVP aircraft procurement, fleet management, trading and strategy for the Lufthansa Group during 15 years and all 10+ airlines as well as activities with JetBlue and on a project with AirNewZealand plus past exec and board functions for aircraft & engine manufacturers (Airbus Toulouse, Bombardier, Rolls-Royce) in the fields as Head of Marketing, Sales, Customer Support, Strategy and as Chief Procurement Officer. He further served on the boards of aircraft leasing companies whilst also acting as a Senior advisor for two major US airlines on re-fleeting and procurement.

He is currently advising several companies, airlines and start-ups in the aerospace world globally whilst also driving activities in the environmental and efficiency areas of mobility. As part of the Mentor Team of the Hamburg based Sustainable Aerolab he has seen and accompanied startups that are at the forefront of decarbonizing aviation for the past two years crystalizing on five major areas of development: 1) sustainable aviation fuels, 2) hydrogen, 3) electrification, 4) new designs and materials & 5) operational efficiencies. Altogether, in the 24 months since the inception more than 40 startups from all around the world have been mentored through the Aerolab team.

During his career he built and drove restructuring of fleets in Airlines as well as business orientations in the OEM world. In hiscareer purchased, sold and leased (in/out) well over 1000 aircraft adopting early network benefits of the right sized aircraft including reducing order volumes on specific aircraft which would no longer yield benefits, economically and ecologically. He and his team(s) were instrumental in the development of most of modern aircraft flying and entering the market till mid of this decade from Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer and other Airframe OEMs as well as several engines including some pivotal game changers. He worked on the advisory teams of all airframe and engine manufacturers since 20 years as well as on the Supply Chains of several Tier Ones.

Against this background and portfolio of activities he currently is a Director in an Asian State owned Low cost carrier and also acting Chief Commercial Officer of Deutsche Aircraft. He also is member and cofounder of the Flightlevel 500 network, working with financing organizations and the OEM world whilst also linked to the interim Management practice Keyplayer and the Roland Berger Advisory Network. Finally he had the project lead to kick of NetZero LEJ for the airport in Leipzig together with State and Federal Governments combined with industry partners such as DHL, Condor and SASOL which was signed in the presence and supported by the German Chancellor end of September 2023 in Hamburg. He also features in some thought pieces on aeronautical developments.

Panel 5: Alternate Designs for Sustainable Aviation

Thursday, January 18th
16:50 – 18:20   HG F 30 | Audi Max

Panelists: Martin Stadlbauer (MTU), Henrik Runnemalm (GKN), Hervé Morvan (Rolls-Royce), Tamur Goudarzi Pour (Swiss), Vince Sidwell (Pratt & Whitney)
Chair: Nico Buchholz (Advisor to aircraft, aerospace and mobility businesses)

Panel Abstract:

This panel will discuss alternative design options for commercial aviation, focused on sustainable propulsion solutions. The topic will include all emission reductions, including carbon and non-carbon emissions. Panelists will discuss approaches, benefits, and challenges of different options.