UK-based start-up airline Hans Airways has revealed the initial board line-up to spearhead its drive to gaining its Air Operator Certificate later this year. The carrier plans to begin direct non-stop flights from the UK to India in Autumn 2021.
The initial four Board Members joining CEO and founder Satnam Saini are: Ruchir Verma, as board advisor and non-executive chairman; Barry Humphreys, Jane Middleton and Dr Peter Malanik as non-executive directors.
Verma Ruchir has worked for big names such as RBS Investment Banking, Clifford Chance, Thomson Reuters and Zurich Insurance. He is also an entrepreneur having run his own London-based business, as well as helping early-stage companies with start-up and growth strategies.
Barry Humphreys is a long-serving aviation executive, with roles at the UK CAA – interrupted by a role briefly at British Caledonian Airways – and Virgin Atlantic Airways as director of external affairs and route development. He has been deputy chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives UK, as well as non-executive chairman of the British Air Transport Association (now Airlines UK
Jane Middleton is skilled finance director and is currently managing director of independent travel firm Authentic Travel Company as well as being chairman of Airline UK for the last six years.
Dr Peter Malanik has 27 years of airline management experience, including the ex-CEO of Austrian Airlines. Currently, Malanik is the president of the Austrian Aviation Association, chairman of the Supervisory Board Flughafen Klagenfurt, as well as being a lecturer on airline management at both Cranfield and Vienna universities.
“Benefitting from experience is everything when starting up a long-haul airline, so our policy from day one has been to put together a Board with a significant amount of industry knowhow to help us steer the right path to a successful launch later this year,” says Satnam Saini, CEO of Hans Airways. “We look forward to making further announcements soon about the structure of our senior management team, again with pertinent airline experience being a cornerstone of our recruitment policy.”