New roles for the industry’s movers and shakers
British Airways
British Airways has appointed Noella Ferns as regional general manager for Greater China and Philippines. Based in Hong Kong, Noella will lead a region-wide team of over 27 people and will report to Richard Tams, executive vice president for Greater China. Ferns has worked for British Airways for over 20 years in various roles including senior management, sales and airport operations across Asia Pacific and more recently Greater China and Australia. Previously, she led the Hong Kong, Philippines and Taiwan sales teams to drive growth in corporate accounts, trade partnerships and new business, while also overseeing the airline’s channel shift strategy.
Jet Airways
Jet Airways recently announced the appointment of Aldrin Kenneth as the country manager for Thailand and Indo-China. Under this role, Kenneth will be responsible for Jet Airways’ performance in the region including its commercial aspects and overall operations. He will leverage his airline experience to use innovative means to grow the business and take steps to engage with key consumer communities to strengthen the airline’s brand story and value propositions. An industry veteran with over 17 years of experience with global airlines, Kenneth joined Jet Airways as the area manager for Dubai/ Sharjah and Northern Emirates in 2008 and helped establish and strengthen the airline’s footprint in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Kenya Tourism Board
Kenya Tourism Board has recently appointed its new CEO, Betty Radier, who comes with over 18 years of senior management experience in marketing, strategy and operations. Prior to her appointment, Radier served as managing director of Scanad Kenya, JWT and Scanad Advertising Tanzania, McCann Kenya, and Lowe Scanad Uganda.
Tourism New Zealand
Tourism New Zealand recently announced the appointment of Stephen England-Hall as chief executive. England-Hall will join the tourism office after having worked for three years as the chief executive at Loyalty, New Zealand. Prior to that, he was the chief marketing officer of Syncapse Corporation and chief executive officer for Razorfish in London with Razordish being the global media agency of Tourism New Zealand. He has worked across New Zealand, the United Kingdom and North America.
International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, IAAPA
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), Virginia, USA, has inducted Rajeev Jalnapurkar, CEO of Ramoji Film City into its Asia Pacific Government Relations Subcommittee. Jalnapurkar would be serving the committee for the year 2017. He is also the only Indian to be selected for this position. He is the director of IAAPI and Education Subcommittee of Education at Asia.
Air Canada
Air Canada has appointed Lucie Guillemette, previously senior vice president of revenue optimisation, as executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Guillemette, who is based at the airline’s Montreal headquarters, joins the executive committee and continues to report to Benjamin Smith, president, passenger airlines. In her new role, she will be responsible for Air Canada’s commercial strategy and revenue generation, including marketing, sales, network planning and revenue management. Prior to her appointment as senior vice president, revenue optimisation in May 2015, she was vice president, revenue management, a role held since February 2008.
Emirates SkyCargo
Emirates SkyCargo has appointed Jimmy Yiu as cargo operations manager in Hong Kong. Yiu has over 20 years of experience in the logistics industry where he oversaw operations and capacity procurement for a number of global freight forwarders in Hong Kong and China. He also has experience in contractual partnerships with offline and online carriers with a focus on innovative multi-model solutions for key shippers.
Sabre Airline Solutions
Peter Wu has been appointed as senior director and general manager of Sabre Airline Solutions – Mainland China. Reporting to vice president and regional general manager for Sabre Airline Solutions – Asia Pacific, Dasha Kuksenko, Wu will lead Sabre’s airline IT business in China. He will be responsible for driving further market growth and expansion across Mainland China, as well as establishing customer engagement and local support. An airline business veteran, Wu has over 22 years of experience within the aviation sector. Most recently, he was director of strategy and business development for commercial aviation services for China at Boeing.