Emirates Airline announces commercial team changes

Posted on September 25, 2019 UTC

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News Desk

DUBAI: 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 AED 100 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 1 October 2019.

Leading the airline’s commercial activities in markets across six continents, and reporting into Adnan Kazim are:

Salem Obaidalla, currently Senior VP Aeropolitical & Industry Affairs, will take over as Senior VP Commercial Operations Americas.
Adil Al Ghaith, currently Senior VP Commercial Operations Gulf, Middle East & Iran, will take on additional responsibility for UAE and Oman.
Orhan Abbas, currently Senior VP Commercial Operations Africa, will take over as Senior VP Commercial Operations Far East.
Badr Abbas, currently Senior VP Commercial Operations Far East, will take over as Senior VP Commercial Operations Africa.
Thierry Aucoc, currently Senior VP Commercial Operations Europe & Russian Federation, will take on additional responsibility for Germany and UK.
Ahmed Khoory, Senior VP Commercial Operations West Asia & Indian Ocean, retains his current portfolio.

In addition, the following movements and rotations will take place:

Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, currently VP India & Nepal, is promoted to Divisional VP USA & Canada, reporting to Salem Obaidalla.
Andrew Bunn, currently Area Manager Singapore, Brunei & Malaysia, is promoted to VP Sales (USA) reporting to Essa Sulaiman Ahmad.
Jabr Al-Azeeby, currently VP Pakistan, will rotate to the position of VP India & Nepal, reporting to Ahmed Khoory.
Mohammad Sarhan, currently Manager Thailand, Myanmar & Cambodia, is promoted to VP Pakistan, reporting to Ahmed Khoory.

Other key changes within the Commercial and Revenue Optimisation teams include:

Dina Al Herais, currently VP Member Experience (Skywards), will take over the role of VP Commercial Products (B2B Corporate & Leisure)
Bob Kabli, currently Senior VP B2C Online Sales & Ancillaries, will take on the new title of Senior VP Online Sales Development. He will also take on responsibility for Emirates Holidays.
Anand Lakshminarayanan, currently Senior VP Revenue Optimisation, will take on the new title of Senior VP Revenue Optimisation & Distribution, and continue reporting into Adnan Kazim.
Amit Khandelwal, currently Divisional VP Inventory & Revenue Steering, will take on the new title of Divisional VP Inventory, Revenue Steering & Distribution. He will have additional responsibility for Distribution, MARS/RES systems and Integrity. Amit will continue to report to Anand Lakshminarayanan.
Bill Cavendish, currently VP Revenue Optimisation Distribution Strategy, will take on the new title of VP Distribution Strategy and report to Amit Khandelwal.
Mohit Soral, currently VP Market Operations Revenue Optimisation (West), is promoted to Divisional VP Market Operations Worldwide. He will report to Anand Lakshminarayanan.
Hemanth Nallakandy, VP Market Operations RO (Centre), will rotate to VP Market Operations (East). He will report to Mohit Soral.
Mohammed Al Hashimi, VP 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, Adnan Kazim continues to be supported by an experienced leadership team in other key commercial units comprising:

Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior VP, Emirates SkyCargo
Dr. Nejib Ben Khedher, Divisional Senior VP Emirates Skywards
Karen Bell-Wright, Senior VP Retail & Contact Centres
Azhar Kapadwanjwala, Senior VP Planning – Network Schedules & Optimisation
Trevor Chong, VP Route Planning & Economics
Rogerio Leao, VP 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% 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.

Emirates has always worked to be an ‘Employer of Choice’ for Emiratis by building an enduring foundation for the successful recruitment, development, progression and retention of UAE Nationals. Its National Recruitment Strategy (Rehlaty), creates opportunities for UAE Nationals to grow professionally and build a well-structured and defined career path so that they can play pivotal roles within the organisation.

Its efforts to retain and develop UAE Nationals include: