We are so lucky to have Stefan Fornasier as part of our leadership team at MANJ. Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary with us, Stefan!
Five years ago, Stefan Fornasier Fornasier embarked on an adventurous journey, when a small team of Munich Airport International (MAI) left Germany to take over maintenance and concessions at the old Terminal A of Newark Liberty International Airport, while at the same time preparing for the opening and operation of the new Terminal A (EWR-TA). Since then, a lot has happened. EWR-TA started operations in 2023 and was awarded “5 Stars” and “World’s Best New Airport Terminal” by Skytrax in 2024. Today, Stefan is the COO of our subsidiary Munich Airport NJ LLC (MANJ), the operator of EWR-TA. 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦? From 2010-2014, I was an ORAT Project Manager for MAI and supported with the opening of Hamad International Airport. Me and my family moved to Doha and needed to adapt to a very different cultural environment. So, starting a new live in a new location was something we already did, therefore, the transition from Munich to NJ was a relatively easy move for us. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲? Me and my team faced multiple challenges in the different phases of MANJ’s journey: While managing the old Terminal A, we needed to keep an aging building up and running above capacity. Then hit Covid. After surviving this crisis, we had to manage the quickly recovering domestic travel in the old Terminal while preparing in parallel for the opening of EWR-TA. And since January 2023, we operate this beautiful new Terminal A while dealing with some minor but typical teething problems every new building is coming with. Together with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, TSA and our Airline partners we successfully manage to address all challenges and provide a world-class environment for all stakeholders and customers. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 re𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀? Seeing the first real-life passengers using our new Terminal A on opening day. I was fascinated and proud seeing the Terminal operating under full steam – all the time and effort was rewarded on this day. The second-best moment was when we were told that Terminal A received not one but two Skytrax awards: 5-Star Certification and World’s Best New Terminal. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆? I have the pleasure of working in a highly divers environment, with colleagues from all over the world, and this also comes with a high sensitivity for any form on harassment. The work culture in the US is a lot more fast paced and result-driven than in Germany. Congratulations on your 5-year anniversary, Stefan 🎉🎈! We are happy to have you on board and tremendously proud of what you and your team achieved at EWR-TA 💯!