ZURICH, July 28, 2011 – The Board of Directors of Zurich-based gategroup, the world's leading independent provider of on-board services and products for passengers, has appointed Andrew Gibson as CEO of gategroup. In April, Gibson took over management of gategroup on an interim basis following the resignation of his predecessor.

"Following a rigorous review process, the Board of Directors came to the unanimous conclusion that Andrew Gibson is the best person to lead gategroup," says Chairman of the Board of Directors Andreas Schmid.

"In his former role as Head of the Group’s North American business and a member of the Executive Management Board, he played an important part in designing and implementing gategroup's global strategy and as a leader pushing forward the successful development of the group. Over the last four months he and his team have managed the company extremely well in a difficult environment."

In January 2007 Gibson (50) became Group Senior Vice President and President of the North American Region at gategroup. He was previously responsible for operations of the group's European business and played a leading role in the successful turnaround of the group in Europe and America.

Before joining gategroup in September 2004, Gibson was with McKinsey & Company. A native of New Zealand, he holds a Master of Science degree and a PhD from the California Institute of Technology (USA) as well as a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.