Roger Whyte, a senior executive with Cessna for over 28 years, has become the new Chairman of CEPA (Central European Private Aviation), the non-profit organisation created to support the development of business aviation in Central and Eastern Europe.

CEPA, which holds its 2014 Expo on 19th and 20th November 2014, has recruited Mr Whyte to take over from the outgoing Chairman, Philippe Lienard, to help guide the organisation through its fifth year of growth. He will use his extensive experience in global business development and event management to further position the flourishing CEPA Expo as the leading event in the region.

Roger Whyte gained commercial aviation experience in the mid 1970’s during his time with OEFAG Aviation Services, an FBO with locations across Austria, where he worked closely with Austrian Airlines on the establishment of Austrian Air Service regional airline. In 1982 Cessna Aircraft Company appointed Mr Whyte as Citation regional sales manager and he was subsequently promoted to Director Europe, Middle East and Africa and later to Director of International Citation Sales. After a brief period with Raytheon Aircraft Company in 1994, as Vice President International Sales, Roger Whyte returned to Cessna as Vice President Worldwide
		CEPA Founder, Dagmar Grossmann with newly appointed Chairman, Roger Whyte
Citation Sales. In 1997 he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Cessna Sales and Marketing responsible for all aircraft product lines, a position which he held until his retirement at the end of 2010.

Roger Whyte served as the Chairman of the Associate Member Advisory Committee and as a Board member of the NBAA and was also a founding board member of the Air Charter Safety Foundation. He has served on Duncan Aviation’s Advisory Board and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the United States National Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2011 Mr Whyte was based in Shanghai, China on a special assignment for the NBAA to help lay the groundwork for The Asian Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition, ABACE which has become the premier business aviation forum for that region and is now being held annually.

Commenting on his appointment, Roger Whyte said “I have been following the progress of CEPA since its inception and having attended the CEPA Expo, I am impressed with what has been achieved so far. The support CEPA provides to businesses in the Central and Eastern European regions compliments the activity of organisations such as EBAA by providing a very specific focus. I am looking forward to working with the CEPA team to help take the organisation and the Expo to the next stage of its development.”

CEPA Founder, Dagmar Grossmann said “We are delighted that Roger has agreed to take the CEPA Chairmanship in what I think will be a very exciting time in the growth of the organisation and in a year that follows the most successful CEPA Expo yet. I want to thank Philippe Lienard of Aelis Group for his support and hard work in helping to make 2013 such a good year. There are many exciting developments to work on in 2014 and Roger has the experience and skills to help us immensely.”