(Corrects day of the week in paragraph 1)

(Reuters) -French aerospace company Arianespace, a joint venture between Safran and Airbus under ArianeGroup, announced a change in chief executive on Thursday.

Stephane Israel, who has held the CEO position at Arianespace since 2013, will leave the group at the end of December to embark on a new career opportunity in January.

Arianespace has named David Cavailloles as new CEO, starting in January.

(Reporting by Leo MarchandonEditing by David Goodman)