Casinos Austria Appoints Andreas Bierwirth as Next General Director

The supervisory board of Casinos Austria AG appointed Andreas Bierwirth as the next General Director of Casinos Austria AG and chairman of the board of Österreichische Lotterien at its meeting on October 21, 2026, Casinos Austria announced. Bierwirth takes up both posts on March 14, 2027, succeeding Erwin van Lambaart, who has decided not to extend his contract.

Van Lambaart told the supervisory board in September 2026 that he would not seek a further term once his five-year contract expires in March 2027. He will be 64 years old at that point, the company said.

In the announcement, van Lambaart said he is of the view that “the changing environment will benefit from a new leadership team that leads the company into a promising future.”

The supervisory board answered his decision by opening an international search process, led by what the company described as a renowned personnel consultant. The board said the search drew a broad field of candidates and produced a clear recommendation.

Owners and Chairman Welcome the Appointment

Edith Hlawati, a board member of ÖBAG, said Bierwirth has every quality required to guide the group through challenging times together with his board colleague Martin Škopek. “I am very convinced by this decision,” she said. “After a year as Chief Transformation Officer, Andreas Bierwirth is very well aware of the challenges facing the group. In earlier leadership positions he successfully led established companies through change into competitive market environments. He is therefore ideally qualified for the role of CEO of the Casinos Austria Group.”

Allwyn chief executive Robert Chvatal thanked van Lambaart for his extraordinary commitment and said Casinos Austria and Österreichische Lotterien developed very positively under his leadership and are well positioned for the upcoming concession award. Chvatal described Bierwirth as an experienced manager who will drive the group’s next decisive steps with a strong entrepreneurial focus, and said Allwyn shares the same belief in responsible gaming and a clear commitment to Austria.

Supervisory board chairman Robert Zadrazil thanked van Lambaart for the performance of both companies during his tenure and for everything he did to strengthen their reputation and position in a rapidly changing environment. Zadrazil said the group is exceptionally well placed to meet future challenges, has a solid financial base and has significantly advanced its digital transformation. Hlawati added that van Lambaart decisively shaped Austria’s casino and lottery business as CEO and prepared the group well for the pending regulatory changes and the opening of the online market.

The 2025 Board Expansion and Licence Re-Award

Bierwirth has been a director of Casinos Austria AG and Österreichische Lotterien and the group’s Chief Transformation Officer since October 1, 2025, when the supervisory board expanded the management board to three members, the group announced on September 25, 2025. His brief included the foreign casino business (CAI), the digital development of the group and group-wide process and project management.

The same round of decisions extended the contracts of van Lambaart as CEO and Škopek as CFO to 2027. The group’s two main owners, Allwyn and ÖBAG, said they would hold talks with both executives about continuing their board activity beyond the second quarter of 2027 in order to secure the stability and continuity of operations in the coming licence period. According to that announcement, both main shareholders underlined a strong ongoing commitment to the group and to Austria as a business location.

That announcement identified the recovery of all gambling licences, whose re-award it said was due the following year, as one of the major challenges directly ahead of the group, alongside further digitalisation. Under the division of responsibilities set at the time, van Lambaart was to concentrate fully on domestic activities, including the pending licence renewals and the positioning of the group, while Škopek retained responsibility for finance, the lottery business including its online operations, and IT. The group operates 12 casinos across Austria.

Career Histories

According to his official biography, Bierwirth holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Münster, trained as a banker and holds commercial pilot licences for aircraft and helicopters. His management career included founding Germanwings as Germany’s first low-cost airline and the privatisation of Austrian Airlines with its integration into the Lufthansa Group. After ten years in aviation management, he spent a further decade in telecommunications, where he transformed mobile operator T-Mobile into Magenta following the takeover of UPC. He then spent a year at Erste Bank AG with responsibility for the retail business, and another year as CEO of a medium-sized aviation company, before turning to his own investment agenda. He is chairman of the supervisory board of Do&CO AG and a member of the board of Finnair, and previously sat on the boards of EasyJet PLC and Casinos Austria AG.

Van Lambaart was born in Rotterdam on June 22, 1963, and his early career spanned hotels, theatre and media, including hotel industry roles at Accor and the chief executive post at Stage Entertainment Netherlands, according to the group’s official management page. He took over as CEO of Holland Casinos NV in 2016, then moved to Austria on March 14, 2022, as a director of the board of both companies. He has served as General Director of Casinos Austria AG and chairman of the Österreichische Lotterien board since April 1, 2022, and the European Casino Association appointed him its chairman on February 7, 2023.

When van Lambaart’s board contract expires in March 2027, the management board will consist of two members: Bierwirth and Škopek, who has been a director of both companies since May 1, 2019.