ASPAC appointment highlights of the month – Jan-2020

12 February, 2020

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the ASPAC region witness policy and upper level changes on a daily basis. It is important to not only keep tabs of these organisations direction, but to also monitor changes in executive branches to see the wider picture of the travel market. The Blue Swan Daily will keep you informed of these movements each month, with a full wrap of the key changes in the ASPAC market, while also looking forward to key appointments announced for the month.

Here are the key executive changes for Jan-2020;

  • National Air Transportation Association (NATA) appointed Timothy R Obitts as president and CEO, succeeding Gary Dempsey. Mr Obitts previously served as NATA COO;
  • SereneAir confirmed it appointed Muhammad Safdar Khan as SereneAir CEO;
  • SpiceJet appointed Shilpa Bhatia as chief commercial officer (CCO), effective Feb-2020;
  • Thai Airways announced the following appointments, effective 05-Feb-2020:
    • Chanyoot Sirithumakul as first vice chairman;
    • Chakkrit Parapuntakul as second vice chairman.
  • Skymark Airlines announced the following director appointments on 31-Jan-2020:
    • Hayao Hora: Mr Hora will be nominated as president, subject to the airline's board approval on 13-Feb-2020;
    • Kotaro Hara;
    • Masataka Mitsuhashi.
  • AirAsia Group appointed Bo Lingam as interim CEO, effective 03-Feb-2020. Mr Lingam is president and COO of the company and will replace Tony Fernandes, who relinquished his CEO position for a period of two months. Executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun also relinquished his positions for the same period;
  • ACI World appointed Luis Felipe de Oliveira as director general, effective Jun-2020. Mr de Oliveira will succeed Angela Gittens;
  • Cathay Pacific announced that Chu Kwok Leung Ivan has resigned as non executive director and Zhang Zhuoping has been appointed as a non executive director, effective 14-Apr-2020;
  • Virgin Australia reported non-executive director of the board of the Virgin Australia Group Mark Chellew resigned due to work commitments, effective 29-Jan-2020;
  • IndiGo appointed Ronojoy Dutta as whole time director for a four year term, effective 27-Jan-2020 to 23-Jan-2024;
  • Garuda Indonesia confirmed the appointment of Irfan Setiaputra as CEO, replacing Ari Askhara;
  • Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) stated PIA's board of directors assumed responsibility for managing the airline from CEO Arshad Mahmood Malik, following a directive from Pakistan's Supreme Court. The board reportedly appointed three directors to manage the airline, Naveed Malik, Tariq Kirmani and Atif Bajwa. The board also appointed PIA COO Aijaz Mazhar as acting CEO, effective immediately;
  • Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) stated PIA's board of directors assumed responsibility for managing the airline from CEO Arshad Mahmood Malik, following a directive from Pakistan's Supreme Court. The board reportedly appointed three directors to manage the airline, Naveed Malik, Tariq Kirmani and Atif Bajwa. The board also appointed PIA COO Aijaz Mazhar as acting CEO, effective immediately;
  • Nok Air board approved the appointment of Raj Tanta-Nanta as deputy CEO on 14-Jan-2020;
  • China Eastern Airlines appointed Cheng Guowei as VP of the company. Mr Cheng is currently VP of China Eastern Air Holding Company.