Carnival Corporation today announced that Michael Ungerer, currently president of Germany-based AIDA Cruises, has been appointed Chief Operations Officer-Shared Services for Carnival Asia, effective September 1, 2015.

Ungerer will relocate to Shanghai, China, and directly support each of the Carnival Corporation brands operating in the region to leverage the company’s industry-leading presence and scale in the region.

Ungerer will jointly report to Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group, which includes AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises, and to a China steering committee comprising the Carnival Corporation brands operating in the region.

In addition, longtime AIDA senior executive Felix Eichhorn has been named president of AIDA Cruises. He will also report to Thamm.

“The moves are an important part of our growth strategy in Asia,” said Alan Buckelew, Chief Operations Officer for Carnival Corporation. “We thank Michael for his nearly two decades of exceptional leadership in helping develop AIDA into one of our most profitable and popular cruise brands and the market leader in Germany. We have every confidence that Michael’s leadership will have a major impact in his new role for Carnival Corporation in Asia, where we are the leading cruise company and expect significant growth opportunities, especially in China.”

Added Thamm: “We also look forward to adding Felix to our senior leadership team and having him continue the great momentum that AIDA Cruises has established as one of the top cruise lines in the world.”

Ungerer, 49, joined AIDA Cruises in 1997 and has been President of AIDA Cruises since July 2012. From July 2004 to June 2012, he served as AIDA Cruises’ Senior Vice President-Operations, responsible for marine operations, new ship builds, guest services, shoreside operations, entertainment and purchasing. He played an important role in the company’s product development, as well as further developing AIDA Cruises’ high standards of quality for providing a world-class guest experience.

Eichhorn, 35, started his career at AIDA Cruises while studying business administration. In the following years, he worked in a variety of increasingly responsible positions ashore and onboard before taking on the role of senior vice president of sales, yield management and flight operations. He assumed responsibility for the sales and revenue management of AIDA Cruises and Costa Germany in 2013.