Emirates announces commercial team changes
Emirates airline today announced key appointments and rotations in its global commercial operations, positioning it to better serve customers across its global network, and respond with agility to dynamic market opportunities.
Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ chief commercial officer said: “The commercial organisation is responsible for delivering on our top-line results, which last year was close to Dh100 billion ($27.2 billion). It’s a testimony to the bench strength within the organisation that our key commercial roles are being filled by internal talent who bring with them deep expertise and diverse experience. I am confident that the team is well placed to deliver the best possible support to our customers, and to deliver on our business strategy, targets, and future growth.”
All the following appointments are effective from October 1.
Leading the airline’s commercial activities in markets across six continents, and reporting into Adnan Kazim are:
• Salem Obaidalla, currently senior vice president Aeropolitical & Industry Affairs, will take over as senior vice president Commercial Operations Americas.
• Adil Al Ghaith, currently senior vice president Commercial Operations Gulf, Middle East & Iran, will take on additional responsibility for UAE and Oman.
• Orhan Abbas, currently senior vice president Commercial Operations Africa, will take over as senior vice president Commercial Operations Far East.
• Badr Abbas, currently senior vice president Commercial Operations Far East, will take over as senior vice president commercial operations Africa.
• Thierry Aucoc, currently senior vice president Commercial Operations Europe & Russian Federation, will take on additional responsibility for Germany and UK.
• Ahmed Khoory, senior vice president Commercial Operations West Asia & Indian Ocean, retains his current portfolio.
In addition, the following movements and rotations will take place:
• Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, currently vice president India & Nepal, is promoted to divisional vice president USA & Canada, reporting to Salem Obaidalla.
• Andrew Bunn, currently area manager Singapore, Brunei & Malaysia, is promoted to vice president Sales (USA) reporting to Essa Sulaiman Ahmad.
• Jabr Al-Azeeby, currently vice president Pakistan, will rotate to the position of vice president India & Nepal, reporting to Ahmed Khoory.
• Mohammad Sarhan, currently manager Thailand, Myanmar & Cambodia, is promoted to vice president Pakistan, reporting to Ahmed Khoory.
Other key changes within the Commercial and Revenue Optimisation teams include:
• Dina Al Herais, currently vice president Member Experience (Skywards), will take over the role of vice president Commercial Products (B2B Corporate & Leisure)
• Bob Kabli, currently senior vice president B2C Online Sales & Ancillaries, will take on the new title of senior vice president Online Sales Development. He will also take on responsibility for Emirates Holidays.
• Anand Lakshminarayanan, currently senior vice president Revenue Optimisation, will take on the new title of senior vice president Revenue Optimisation & Distribution, and continue reporting into Adnan Kazim.
• Amit Khandelwal, currently divisional vice president Inventory & Revenue Steering, will take on the new title of divisional vice president Inventory, Revenue Steering & Distribution. He will have additional responsibility for Distribution, MARS/RES systems and Integrity. Khandelwal will continue to report to Anand Lakshminarayanan.
• Bill Cavendish, currently vice president Revenue Optimisation Distribution Strategy, will take on the new title of vice president Distribution Strategy and report to Amit Khandelwal.
• Mohit Soral, currently vice president Market Operations Revenue Optimisation (West), is promoted to divisional vice president Market Operations Worldwide. He will report to Anand Lakshminarayanan.
• Hemanth Nallakandy, vice president Market Operations RO (Centre), will rotate to vice president Market Operations (East). He will report to Mohit Soral.
• Mohammed Al Hashimi, vice president Commercial Products Dubai retains his portfolio, but will report directly into Adnan Kazim.
Aside from the new appointments in Emirates’ Commercial Operations and Revenue Optimisation functions, Kazim continues to be supported by an experienced leadership team in other key commercial units comprising:
• Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president, Emirates SkyCargo
• Dr. Nejib Ben Khedher, divisional senior vice president Emirates Skywards
• Karen Bell-Wright, senior vice president Retail & Contact Centres
• Azhar Kapadwanjwala, senior vice president Planning – Network Schedules & Optimisation
• Trevor Chong, vice president Route Planning & Economics
• Rogerio Leao, vice president Fleet Planning & Research
• Syriac A Pathrose, senior manager Market Research
Strong Emirati representation in leadership roles reflect airline’s successful talent development strategy
With this latest announcement, Emirates’ Commercial team now has 42 UAE nationals in key leadership roles. More than 75 per cent of them have been with the company for over 10 years, and most have gone through the Emirates Commercial Trainee programme for graduates and progressed their careers through various roles in the company. - TradeAraia News Service