Benyamin Ismail, currently IRO will become acting CEO following a major reshuffling at AirAsia X. Datuk Kamarudin bin Meranun will replace Azran Osman-Rani as group CEO.
‘Over the past few months, we saw the company facing challenges in a difficult environment,’ says Bin Meranum in a statement. ‘After a thorough review, a decisive turnaround plan was initiated to put the company on substantially better financial footing to ensure we bring back confidence to the market. We have a solid company here, and together with Ben, who has a thorough understanding of the AirAsia and AirAsia X business model and the culture that has made AirAsia a leading airline, I am truly confident about turning this company around and bringing it to profitable growth.’
Ismail joined AirAsia in 2010 to head the IR department, having previously worked in debt capital markets for two major Malaysian financial groups, Maybank and CIMB. He holds a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance from Curtin University of Technology and a master’s of commerce degree from Edith Cowan University. He most recently served as group head of corporate development, implementation and investor relations at the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered company.