Ryanair has announced that its chief people officer, Eddie Wilson, will succeed Michael O'Leary as chief executive of the airline from September 1.
Mr O'Leary will remain the chief executive of the wider Ryanair gorup which was restructured as a holding company earlier this year.
Mr Wilson, who joined Ryanair in 1997, will run the day to day operations of the airline and will report directly to the group CEO.
As chief executive of Ryanair DAC, Mr Wilson will attend weekly meetings with the CEOs of Buzz, Laudamotion and Malta Air, which all come under Ryanair Holdings.
In an internal memo to staff, Mr O'Leary said, "Eddie has made a huge contribution to that successful growth, without ever losing his Southside accent, his boyish charm of his Northside address!!!"
Mr O'Leary said he hoped his successor will be successful in his new role, "particularly as we enter into very difficult times, not least of which will be the challenges posed by Brexit at the end of October, resolving the Boeing MAX aircraft delays, and cutting and/or closing some bases to accommodate the fact that we will have at least 30 fewer aircraft than planned this winter, and possibly the same number, or even more, again next summer."
