Cologne Bonn Airport / Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH
High: profitable cargo/passenger airport investing in sustainability, terminal modernization, CT screening and seamless passenger journey; strong IT entry point.
Target lead / route-in
Thilo Schmid, CEO; Sebastian Müller, VP IT mentioned.
Best opening thesis
Position Airbus Protect as a European aviation-specialist resilience partner that can connect cyber, safety, operations, sustainability and regulation into one practical executive roadmap.
Suggested first offer
Cyber-safety assessment for CT security screening and passenger-processing modernisation.
Contact people / public profile photos
Photos are from public official/media/profile pages where a reliable embeddable image was found. For some operational contacts, only profile pages were found, not a reusable public image.
Sebastian Müller
Profile/photo visibility depends on LinkedIn; no stable embeddable image source found.
1. Why this prospect matters now
- Thilo Schmid became CEO in 2021; supervisory board extended his contract to 2030.
- Airport messaging highlights heavy investment in sustainability, terminal modernisation, upgraded lounges, next-generation CT security screening and seamless passenger journey.
- The airport is significant for cargo/integrators, creating 24/7 operational resilience requirements.
- Energy infrastructure transformation is a visible sustainability theme.
2. Likely business / risk triggers
- CT screening and passenger journey modernisation increase dependency on secure, available digital and operational systems.
- Cargo/integrator operations make downtime costly and reputationally sensitive.
- Energy and sustainability investments need cybersecurity and safety assurance.
3. Airbus Protect service proposals
| Proposal | Why it fits | Commercial shape |
|---|---|---|
| Cyber-safety assessment for CT security screening and passenger-processing modernisation. | Cyber-safety assessment for CT security screening and passenger-processing modernisation. | Start with a 2–6 week diagnostic/workshop, then convert to roadmap, implementation support, managed service or periodic assurance. |
| 24/7 airport MDR/SOC use-case package tailored to cargo, terminal, access-control and screening systems. | 24/7 airport MDR/SOC use-case package tailored to cargo, terminal, access-control and screening systems. | Start with a 2–6 week diagnostic/workshop, then convert to roadmap, implementation support, managed service or periodic assurance. |
| Business continuity exercise around cargo integrator disruption, ransomware and terminal-system outage. | Business continuity exercise around cargo integrator disruption, ransomware and terminal-system outage. | Start with a 2–6 week diagnostic/workshop, then convert to roadmap, implementation support, managed service or periodic assurance. |
| Energy infrastructure cyber/OT resilience review linked to sustainability programme. | Energy infrastructure cyber/OT resilience review linked to sustainability programme. | Start with a 2–6 week diagnostic/workshop, then convert to roadmap, implementation support, managed service or periodic assurance. |
4. Why Airbus Protect is the right partner
Airbus Protect combines aviation-domain safety know-how, cybersecurity, sustainability and resilience services. Official pages position Airbus Protect as supporting aviation across IT/OT convergence, ground operations, Part‑IS, product/system security, MDR/SOC, offensive security, business continuity and sustainable aviation transition.
Relevant Airbus Protect capabilities
- Part‑IS gap analysis, ca‑ISMS design, pre-audit and training
- SOC/MDR for airport critical infrastructure with darknet/digital-risk monitoring and incident hotline
- OT/industrial cybersecurity for baggage, apron, energy, building-management and security-screening environments
- Red-team/purple-team exercises tailored to airport scenarios
- BCP/crisis tabletop exercises including cyber, drone, severe weather and supplier outage scenarios
- Hydrogen/SAF/electrification safety, risk assessment and permitting support
- Sustainability governance, climate resilience and infrastructure risk analysis
5. Conversation guide for Prague
Opening
“We help aviation organisations make innovation and sustainability transformation resilient by design — not only compliant, but operationally robust.”
Questions
- Which digital systems are most critical for your seamless passenger journey ambition?
- How is cargo continuity represented in your cyber incident playbooks today?
- Would Sebastian Müller value an aviation-specific OT/SOC maturity benchmark against peers?
Next step to propose
Offer a short executive workshop after ACI: map current initiatives, identify 3–5 cyber/safety/sustainability risk hotspots, and define a concrete 90‑day support roadmap.
6. Internal pursuit notes
Stakeholder hypothesis
CEO/COO cares about resilience, passenger experience, regulatory trust, sustainability and reputation. CISO/CIO cares about risk visibility, third-party exposure, evidence, incident response and architecture. Operations/security/safety care about continuity and practical procedures.
Qualification checklist
- Is there an active Part‑IS/NIS2 programme and who owns it?
- Which OT domains are monitored by SOC today?
- How are third-party airport service providers assessed?
- What critical transformation project needs independent assurance in 2026?
- Is there appetite for a tabletop exercise with executive participation?
Sources used
- Cologne CEO
- Cologne CEO extension
- Cologne LinkedIn summary
- Airbus Protect cybersecurity
- Airbus Protect aviation
Prepared from public web sources available on 22 June 2026 plus the prospect/context email supplied by Lukas Weber. Treat as an engagement briefing, not as confidential customer intelligence.