Siegfried Knecht (66), is the CEO of aireg, Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany, since its foundation in 2011. aireg is the association for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in Germany with today 62 members from industry, science, research and politics and relations in the EU, USA and Asia Pacific. In 2006 Siegfried joined EADS (today Airbus) as Senior Manager Political Affairs and was appointed in 2013 as VP Head of Political and External Affairs for Airbus (commercial airplanes) in Germany. He held responsibility for all political matters related to Germany with a particular focus on German and foreign government officials, parliamentarians, business associations and think tanks. Following an 18 months interim stage in the Airbus Corporate Technical Office, he joined in 2017 the Airbus Public Affairs Germany team as VP Director R&T Affairs and resumed his functional reporting to the Airbus CTO. He held that position until he retired from Airbus in August 2025, resulting in over 15 years of experience in the aerospace industry and over 25 years of political lobbying expertise.