New chairman for British Midland from Lufthansa

Lufthansa group airlines CEO Stefan Lauer has taken over Sir Michael Bishop as chairman of Bmi.

Jörg Hennemann, manager hub development and capacity management Frankfurt, has also been appointed to the airline's board.

He will join Bmi CEO Nigel Turner and deputy CEO Tim Bye as an additional executive director of the company.

Altogether, Bmi´s board of directors has six members: Stefan Lauer, Nigel Turner, Tim Bye, Jörg Hennemann, Dr. Holger Hätty and Benny Zakrisson.

Lufthansapaid £48 million through a UK holding company to take a majority stake in Bmi.

The move to acquire the 50% plus one share held by Bmi founder Bishop follows an out-of-court settlement in a dispute between the two over the shareholding.

As a result of what was described as a "compromise settlement" the German carrier is to pay £175 million.