Wizz Air adds leisure experience of Susan Hooper to board

Wizz Air added a veteran of the leisure industry and executive world to its board on Thursday, with the appointment of Susan Hooper as a non-executive director from 1 March.

The FTSE 250 low-cost airline with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe said Hooper would also serve on Wizz Air's audit and remuneration committees.

UK national Hooper was managing director of British Gas Services, leading the service and repair, central heating installations, electrical services and Dyno-Rod business units of the British Gas group until November 2014.

She joined British Gas from the Acromas Group where she was chief executive of the travel division, responsible for Saga holidays and hotels, Saga cruises, Spirit of Adventure cruises, Titan Travel and the AA travel brand.

Hooper also previously held senior roles at Royal Caribbean International, Avis Europe, PepsiCo International, McKinsey & Co and Saatchi & Saatchi. Her time with PepsiCo involved five years based in Central and Eastern European markets, Wizz Air confirmed.

"I am delighted that Susan has agreed to join the Board of Wizz Air," said chairman William Franke.

"Her credentials in the leisure sector are outstanding and she has a great deal of experience as a non-executive of UK listed companies. We look forward to working with her," he added.

Hooper was currently a non-executive director of Affinity Water and The Rank Group, as well as being an advisory board member of LUISS Business School in Rome.

At the same time, the company said Stephen Johnson and John Wilson were to step down from the audit committee and remuneration committee respectively.

That possibility was first flagged in Wizz Air's IPO prospectus on 25 February 2015, though the pair would remain as non-executive directors.