"Thomas Klühr, who has been CEO of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) since 2016, has asked the SWISS Board of Directors to release him from his duties at the end of 2020," Swiss said in a statement, adding Klühr would also step down from his role as chairman of Edelweiss Air, another Lufthansa flight operator. "The Board of Directors will decide on his successor as SWISS CEO in the fourth-quarter period."

Lufthansa last week announced further cuts to its fleet and workforce along with a 1.1 billion euro ($1.3 billion) impairment on idled aircraft as Europe's worsening coronavirus situation spread gloom across the airline sector.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; editing by Thomas Seythal)