Emirates is to strengthen and restructure its global commercial team portfolios, as the airline enters a “new era” of growth and expansion.
The airlines’ commercial operations teams manage customer, partner and stakeholder relationships, meet revenue targets, and serve as ambassadors for the airline across its network spanning 80 countries.
Nabil Sultan, executive vice president for passenger sales and country management, will continue to lead the team of which three of the six senior roles will be held by long-serving UAE nationals.
Thierry Aucoc - currently senior vice president for commercial operations in Europe and the Russian Federation - will take on the expanded role of senior vice president for commercial operations (west), overseeing Europe and the Americas.
Adil Al Ghaith - senior vice president for commercial operations in the Gulf, Middle East, and central Asia - will become senior vice president for commercial operations (centre), covering the Gulf, the Middle East, and Africa. Essa Sulaiman Ahmad who is currently the divisional vice president for the US and Canada, will be promoted to senior vice president for commercial operations (west Asia and the Indian Ocean).
Additionally, Matthew Jones - regional sales manager for the US - will be promoted to vice president for the US and Orhan Abbas who is the current senior vice president for the Far East along with Barry Brown - the divisional vice president for Australasia - will continue in their current roles.
“Our Commercial Operations teams have a crucial role to play not only at our Dubai hub, but across the expanse of our growing network. As our ambassadors, they have deep knowledge of local market dynamics and a sharp understanding of our customers with a view to delighting them and our other key stakeholders every single day,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy president and chief commercial officer.
Kazim continued: “By strengthening our global portfolios with these executive appointments, our aim is to be future fit, elevate customer satisfaction, refuel our business, and reenergise our markets. I wish our commercial leaders every success in their new or expanded roles.”
These changes follow several new appointments in Emirates’ commercial team across markets in the Middle East and Africa, that were made earlier this month.