EMEA appointment highlights of the month – October 2019

11 November, 2019

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the EMEA 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 EMEA market, while also looking forward to key appointments announced for the last month.

Here are the key executive changes for October 2019;

  • Boeing announced its board of directors separated the roles of chairman and CEO on 11-Oct-2019. Dennis A Muilenburg continues as CEO, president and a director. The board elected independent lead director David L Calhoun to serve as non-executive chairman.
  • Transavia appointed Marcel de Nooijer as CEO, commencing 01-Jan-2020.
  • Transavia announced chief commercial officer (CCO) Erik-Jan Gelink plans to step down, effective 01-Jan-2020.
  • SunExpress appointed Armin Bovensiepen as director of strategy and transformation, effective 14-Oct-2019.
  • TAROM appointed Costin Barbu as interim CEO on 21-Oct-2019, replacing Valentin Gvinda following his resignation.
  • Emirates announced the following appointments across its commercial operations team in the Middle East, Far East, Europe and Emirates Skywards, effective 01-Nov-2019:
    • Khalid Al Haddad appointed VP president Skywards members & operations;
    • Mohammed Alnahari Alhashmi appointed VP Saudi Arabia;
    • Abdalla Al Zamani appointed country manager Indonesia;
    • Rashid Al Ardha appointed country manager Singapore;
    • Mohammad Al Attar appointed manager Malaysia;
    • Mohammad Sarhan appointed manager Vietnam;
    • Haitham Al Battawy appointed manager Thailand, Myanmar & Cambodia;
    • Talal Al Gergawi appointed manager Cambodia;
    • Mohammed Al Qassim appointed manager Cyprus;
    • Khalid Hassan appointed manager Sharjah and the Northern Emirates;
    • Asma Al Rahma appointed Emirates Skywards programme manager.
  • Flybe confirmed the appointment of Connect Airways CEO Mark Anderson to the board of of the European Regions Airlines Association (ERA).
  • Luxaviation Group announced François Pauly, president of Compagnie Financière La Luxembourgeoise, has joined the groups' board as a director.
  • Comair (South Africa) announced the resignation of financial director Kirsten Emily King, effective 28-Feb-2020.
  • Air Greenland reported the resignation of Maliina Abelsen as chief commercial officer, effective 15-Nov-2019.
  • PLAY appointed Arnar Már Magnusson as CEO, effective 05-Nov-2019.
  • Precision Air appointed Patrick Mwanri as group MD and CEO, effective 01-Nov-2019.
  • Air Italy appointed Shiju Thomas as chief information officer on 08-Nov-2019.
  • Laudamotion CFO Andreas Fritthum reported he was appointed as MD, effective Nov-2019.