| Mr Olivier Jankovec Director General ACI Europe Olivier Jankovec became Director General of the European Region of the Airports Council International (ACI EUROPE) in September 2006. The organisation represents over 500 airports in 45 European countries. In 2015, member airports handled over 90% of commercial air traffic in Europe, welcoming more than 1.9 billion passengers, 18.9 million tonnes of freight and 22.8 million aircraft movements. These airports contribute to the employment of 12.3 million people, generating €675 billion each year (4.1%) of GDP in Europe. Olivier first joined ACI EUROPE in March 2006 as Director of Strategy & Communications. Olivier has more than 20 years of governmental and lobbying experience, having worked for Alitalia (2002-2006), Air France (2000-2002) and the Air Transport Directorate of the European Commission (1994-2000). Immediately prior to joining ACI EUROPE Olivier was the Director of Institutional Relations for Alitalia where he was in charge of governmental affairs at national, European and International levels. During this time, he was also Chair of the Association of European Airlines Policy Committee. In 2006 and 2007, he participated in the EU’s High Level Group on the future of aviation regulation in Europe and he is also a member of the Advisory Board of the World Tourism Forum. | |
| Mr Giorgio Callegari Deputy General Director for Strategy and Alliances Aeroflot Born in 1959. Graduated from Turin Polytechnic University (Turin, Italy) with a degree in mining. Since 1986 till December 1989 worked as Sales Manager, was a member of the BoD and the executive committee in “Malan Viaggi” air company. Since 1990 till 2011 worked in “Alitalia” air company, where he rose from Sales Manager, Vice President for Sales, Vice President for Business Development, Vice President for Alliances, Business Development and Foreign Relations to Executive Vice President for Alliances and Strategies. Since 2011 has been working for JSC “Aeroflot”. | |
| Mr Martin Gauss CEO and Chairman of the board airBaltic Martin Gauss is the Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of airBaltic since November, 2011. Under his leadership, airBaltic was restructured to profitability. Martin Gauss is in the aviation industry for over 25 years and he started out as a pilot on Boeing 737 with British Airways subsidiary Deutsche BA in 1992. From 1995 he was working in different management functions of Deutsche BA, and became a joint Managing Director of Deutsche BA (dba) and 10% stakeholder when the carrier was acquired by the Intro Group. Under Martin Gauss dba became profitable and was sold to Air Berlin in 2006. He has also held CEO positions in Cirrus Group and Malev. Martin Gauss still holds a Captain Licence on Boeing 737. | |
| David Stoyle Head of Value Engineering Amadeus David is an experienced consultant & value engineer focusing on worldwide airline management and business issues including data strategy, analysis and report design - especially in the areas of sales, marketing, and revenue management. He helps airlines all over the world to build business cases and ensure benefit realisation from big data projects. Prior to this David ran consulting engagements with airlines on various topics including merchandising, fare families, ancillaries, and other revenue subjects. David has held various posts at Amadeus in the areas of airline IT and Distribution, and was previously at Digital Equipment in the UK. He holds a degree from the University of Reading. | |
| Mr Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus Managing Director Aviation Strategy and Concepts Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus was born in Australia, raised in the UK and finished his school education in Paris, France. He likes to describe himself as an “Australian-born international European”. Ulrich studied law in Freiburg, Germany, and after graduation in 1980, began as political liaison officer at Lufthansa German Airlines in Cologne in 1981. Ulrich coordinated the political activities of former Secretary of State and then CEO Heinz Ruhnau in Brussels and Strasburg. After assuming diverse management functions in the airline in such areas as HR and marketing, Ulrich was appointed Vice President Government Affairs in 1992, and as such was deeply involved in the privatisation of the airline as of 1993. Ulrich secured Lufthansa’s interests in the negotiations of an Open Sky between the USA and Germany and subsequently the anti-trust approval for the airline’s alliances with United Airlines and SAS.
In Sep-2002, Ulrich was unanimously elected as Secretary General of the then 28 airline member strong Association of European Airlines, based in Brussels. He represented the interests of his members publicly and politically, and coordinated efforts of the European airline sector to contribute to a European regulatory framework for the entire aviation value chain. This led to an intense exchange between the association and the EU institutions, notably the European Commission, culminating in several regulatory proposals in areas such as aviation security, safety, infrastructure and environment. Ulrich was also involved in the negotiations of a comprehensive EU-US Aviation Agreement.
After 10 years, Ulrich left the then 36 airline member strong association in Sep-2012 and founded his own firm “Aviation Strategy & Concepts”, based in Brussels. His firm, which he likes to call a “networking agency” offers airlines, airports, EU institutions, NGOs and partner firms a platform to establish contacts and develop new solutions.
Ulrich has two children, Felix aged 19 and Julia, 17. He enjoys skiing, jogging, chess and reading. | |
| Barry Humphreys Chairman BKH Aviation Trained as an economist, Dr Humphreys spent the early part of his career with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, becoming Head of Air Services Policy, a member of the Senior Management Group. He subsequently joined Virgin Atlantic as Director of External Affairs and Route Development, with a wide range of responsibilities. On retirement in 2009, he served for two three-year terms as Chairman of the British Air Transport Association (now Airlines UK), the trade body for UK airlines, and was for several years a Non-Executive Director of NATS, the UK air traffic control provider. He continues to lecture and write widely on aviation subjects and has carried out numerous consultancy/advisory projects for clients throughout the industry. He is a Trustee of two significant charities, including Airlink, which is extensively supported by the aviation industry and seeks to bring together NGOs and airlines at times of humanitarian need. In the Queen's 2015/16 New Year's Honours List he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to aviation and charity. | |
| Toni Raurich Marcet Director Partnerships EMEA Booking.com Toni is the director of partnerships in Europe, Middle East and Africa at Booking.com, leading a team that manage alliances with leaders such as easyJet, City Bank, LastMinute.com or Vodafone. Previously, he worked in the Intercom Group (Softonic, Infojobs) and La Caixa. He is Master in Business Administration by the IESE Business School and is graduated in Business Management and Administration by Barcelona’s University, and holds a BSc in Communication. | |
| Mr Bobby Healy CTO CarTrawler Bobby Healy, Chief Technology Officer at CarTrawler, is an experienced inventor, investor and technology entrepreneur specialising in travel technology. He began his career as a programmer building video games for Nintendo at 16 years of age with multiple billboard top 100 titles under his belt. After selling his travel technology business – Eland Technologies – to industry giant SITA (www.sita.aero) , Bobby joined CarTrawler as CTO in 2005 through a management buy-in and led the strategy and product development since its formation. CarTrawler is now by far the largest B2B provider of ground transportation ancillary products to the airline industry in the world and has been through two highly successful management buy-outs under his tenure. Bobby continues to be an avid computer programmer and is a frequent speaker on the international circuit on subjects related to technology in the airline industry, ancillary revenue and online distribution. | |
| Mr Patrick Byrne Executive Chairman & CEO CityJet Pat Byrne founded CityJet in 1993, after a successful career in the financial services sector. He established the airline to pioneer service from Dublin to the new airport in London City. CityJet was sold to Air France in 2000, with Pat remaining as a non-executive board member until its eventual sale to Intro Aviation in 2014. In February 2015, Pat returned to Cityjet, and he led a consortium to purchase the airline with the express ambition to become the leading provider of long term wet lease capacity in Europe. In the two years since Pat took up the leadership role at Cityjet, the airline has grown from a fleet of 17 Avro RJ 85’s to a total fleet of 44 aircraft across three types including the Bombardier CRJ 900 and the Superjet SSJ 100. The airline has also transitioned from 40% wet lease and 60% own risk scheduled operations to 80% wet lease activity and 20% own risk scheduled services. Over the past 18 months Cityjet management has overseen the winning of an extensive wet lease contract with SAS, acquired the SAS subsidiary Blue1, taken delivery of 12 new CRJ 900s from Bombardier (for the SAS programme). In January 2017, Cityjet acquired the SAS Danish subsidiary, Cimber who operate a fleet of 11 CRJ 900’s on wet lease to SAS. Cityjet has placed an order for up to 10 additional new Bombardier CRJ 900’s which will largely replace the Cimber fleet over the next 12 months. The current size of the fleet Cityjet now has in Scandinavia for its wet lease contrcat with SAS is 23 aircraft increasing to 25 by year end. In March, Cityjet commenced a wet lease contract with the Lufthansa subsidiary, Brussels Airlines utilizing 3 Superjet SSJ 100’s initially and potentially increasing to 4 units by October. In April, Cityjet signed a wet lease contrcat with KLM Cityhopper to provide wet lease operations on RJ 85’s out of Amsterdam. Cityjet is now well placed to pursue its stated ambition of turning the airline into a leading niche operator in Europe in the provision of wet lease capacity to operate extensive route networks for major carriers. | |
| Mr Richard Quest Anchor/Correspondent CNN Richard Quest is CNN's foremost international business correspondent and anchor of Quest Means Business, the definitive word on how we earn and spend our money. Based in New York, he is one of the most instantly recognizable members of the CNN team. He also presents the recently-launched Quest Express, a new business show broadcast weekdays at 12pm ET / 5pm BST from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Quest Express offers a quick-fire briefing on the latest market movements and business stories, building a bridge between the close of the European trading day, the opening of the markets in New York, and the start of the business day in Silicon Valley. Additionally, Quest serves as CNNMoney's editor-at-large and files a global daily newsletter - 'CNNMoney Presents: Quest Means Business' - timed to the open of the Asia markets. Quest Means Business, which airs weekdays at 4pm ET / 9pm BST on CNN International, destroys the myth that business is boring, bridging the gap between hard economics and entertaining television. CEOs and global finance ministers make a point of appearing on QMB. Guests of the show have included world leaders such as David Cameron and Petr Necas of the Czech Republic; the biggest names in banking such as Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase and Robert Zoellick, the former President of the World Bank; European policy makers including IMF boss Christine Lagarde, former EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, and former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn; and some of the most influential names in corporate America including DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and former Ford CEO Alan Mulally. Quest's dynamic and distinctive style has made him a unique figure in the field of business broadcasting. He has regularly reported from G20 meetings and attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland each year. Quest has covered every major stock market and financial crisis since Black Monday in 1987 and has reported from key financial centers globally including Wall Street, London, Sao Paolo, Tokyo and Hong Kong. In addition, Quest is the established airline and aviation correspondent at CNN. He has interviewed all of the major airline executives including former Delta CEO Richard Anderson, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes and Emirates CEO Tim Clark. He has covered a number of breaking aviation stories like the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in Ukraine, the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crash and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Quest is the author of 'The Vanishing of Flight MH370: The True Story of the Hunt for the Missing Malaysian Plane,' which details his unique perspective on covering MH370 for CNN. He also presents the monthly CNN Business Traveller show, the definitive authority on making the most of doing business on the road - moving from A to B on company time. As a business travel specialist, Quest has become a voice of authority on subjects like the launch of the Airbus A380. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) awarded Quest the 2013 UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement in recognition of his work as a business journalist reporting on the tourism industry. On the political front, Quest covered the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign with his own series, 'American Quest,' in which he travelled across the battleground state of Florida interviewing a diverse range of voters in the weeks leading up to the election. Quest is also the face of CNN's coverage of major UK events. Last summer he led CNN's coverage of the 'Brexit' vote, and has continued to report on the impact the historic vote is making on markets, economies and businesses. In 2012 he guided an international audience through the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations live from the banks of the River Thames and used his expert knowledge of the British Royal Family to front the channel's coverage of the 2011 marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. His coverage of breaking news, which has spanned more than two decades, has seen him report on a range of stories from, the death of Yasser Arafat, the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 crash to the death of Michael Jackson. Quest is more than just business; there are few journalists who have had guests as varied, from His Holiness, The Dalai Lama to actress Joan Collins to founder of Playboy Magazine, Hugh Hefner. Prior to joining CNN, he worked at the BBC, where he was the North America business correspondent, based on Wall Street for 12 years. Quest is British, holds an LLB (Hons) degree in Law from Leeds University, and was called to the Bar. | |
| Ornagh Hoban Chief Marketing Officer Datalex Ornagh Hoban is Datalex CMO and has responsibility for market and product strategy, industry partnerships and marketing communications. Ornagh has many years’ travel industry experience and has held a number of executive roles in sales, business development and product marketing. Professional experience also includes business development roles within the Oil & Gas Industry and tenure with the European Commission. Ornagh holds an honors degree in Commerce from the Universite Blaise Pascal and an honors degree in Management Studies from the University of Ulster. | |
| Mr Kevin Toland Chief Executive Dublin Aiport Authority (DAA) Kevin Toland became Chief Executive of Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) in Jan-2013. Kevin joined DAA from Glanbia where was Chief Executive Officer and President of Glanbia USA & Global Nutritionals, based in Evanston, Illinois. He was a member of the Glanbia board from 2003 until 2012. Glanbia USA & Global Nutritionals is the largest division of Glanbia. It had a turnover of EUR1.4 billion in 2011, up 35% from 2010 and operating profit of EUR129 million, an increase of 23% over the previous year. It employs 2,600 people in four global business units with 14 manufacturing plants as well as sales and marketing operations across North America, Europe and Asia. Kevin moved to the United States in 2004 and assumed the Chief Executive role in 2005. Under his guidance, Glanbia USA & Global Nutritionals expanded to become the number one manufacturer and exporter of American style cheese in the United States and the number one globally in Sports Nutrition. Before moving to US, Kevin held a number of other positions with Glanbia. He joined the company in 1999 as Director of Strategy and Marketing, before being promoted to Chief Executive of its Consumer Foods Division and subsequently becoming Group Development Director.
Prior to joining Glanbia, Kevin held a number of senior management positions with Coca-Cola Bottlers in Russia and with Grand Metropolitan in Ireland and Central Europe. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants and holds a Diploma in Applied Finance from the Irish Management Institute.
Kevin is from Navan, Co. Meath and is married to Aisling who is from Dublin.
They have three boys: Ben 14, Josh 12 and Matthew 10. | |
| Mr Albert Muntane Casanova Senior VP Aviation Research DVB Bank Albert is an inherently curious person, and has spent over 15 years in international and multinational environments. After gathering some years of experience in sales, marketing, consulting and project management, he joined the airline industry in 2005, where he held a number of roles in route management and revenue management and has been a member of cross-functional teams. In 2011 he joined Air Europa as Head of Network with special focus in Network Development, and in this function he has been deeply involved in the transformation of Air Europa’s business model. Albert holds a degree in Business Administration and is particularly interested in behavioral economics. In his free time, Albert does not play golf. | |
| Catherine Lynn Group Commercial Director EasyJet Catherine (1964) joined easyJet in 2002 following the merger with Go, in which she played an active role. Catherine has successfully carried out a number of senior leadership roles at easyJet including Head of Ground Operations, Head of Airport Development and Procurement and Head of Network Development. In April 2011, she was appointed as Customer and Revenue Director, and to Group Commercial Director in April 2012. Before joining easyJet, Catherine spent 12 years in retail for J Sainsbury before being head hunted in 1998 by Barbara Cassani for the start up of Go where she was part of the management buyout team and headed up cabin services, ground operations and customer service. Catherine graduated from University of Leicester with a BA (Hons) in Geography. | |
| Mr John S Slattery President & CEO Embraer Commercial Aviation John Slattery is CEO at Embraer Commercial Aviation, responsible for global sales of aircraft and services. John joined Embraer in early 2011 as Senior Vice President, responsible for Customer Finance; Asset & Risk Management. The following year John was appointed C.C.O. taking on broader executive responsibilities incorporating worldwide sales of commercial aircraft and services. Since joining Embraer, John has been an executive board director at ECC Leasing, Embraer’s wholly owned leasing company. Prior to joining Embraer, John spent fifteen years in executive and leadership roles at various commercial aerospace advisory, leasing, and banking organizations. Of note, in 2001, John was a co-founder of RBS Aviation Capital (now SMBC Aviation Capital) and the firm’s Managing Director in New York, responsible for leading the bank’s commercial aircraft leasing and asset-backed lending to airline customers across the Americas. John is a Fellow of The Royal Aeronautical Society, President Emeritus of The Wings Club and Director Emeritus of ORBIS International. Awarded an M.B.A. from University of Limerick, John remains active with UL as an Adjunct Professor in the Kemmy School of Business. John lives in Dublin with his wife and two children. | |
| Tewolde GebreMariam Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde GebreMariam was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer, the position that he is currently holding, of Ethiopian on January 2011. He began his career with Ethiopian in 1985 as Transportation Agent and has held a number of senior leadership positions in a number of divisions in the Airline including; Ethiopian Cargo, Area Offices and Sales & Marketing. Mr. Tewolde is on the board of many of the major Ethiopian state-owned enterprises, he leads Pan-African aviation initiatives and sits, with UN Secretary-General on the High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport with United Nations Secretary – General Ban Ki-moon. In July 2013, he became the first CEO of an African airline to receive “The Airline Strategy Award for Regional Leadership” in the award’s 12 year history. Mr. Tewolde graduated from Addis Ababa University with a B.A. Degree in Economics. He earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Open University in the United Kingdom. | |
| Professor Rigas Doganis Chairman European Aviation Club Prof. Rigas Doganis has acted as aviation consultant and strategy adviser to numerous airlines, airports, banks and governments around the world. He is currently a non-executive director of easyJet, Europe’s second largest low-cost airline, and was previously a non-executive director of South African Airways. He sits on the Board of Hyderabad Airport in India and is Chairman of the European Aviation Club in Brussels. Prof. Doganis served as Chairman and CEO of Olympic Airways in Athens from Feb-1995 to Apr-1996 and successfully implemented a major restructuring programme which produced Olympic’s first profit in 18 years. He set up and headed the Department of Air Transport at Cranfield University (UK) from 1991 until 1997 and established it as the pre-eminent academic centre in Europe for post-graduate teaching and research in air transport. He is now a Visiting Professor at Cranfield.
From 1976 until 1992 he was Visiting Professor in Airline Management at the Asian School of Management in Manila. Prof. Doganis has acted as aviation consultant and strategy adviser to numerous airlines, airports, banks and governments around the world. He was until recently a non-executive director of easyJet, Europe’s second largest low-cost airline, and was previously a non-executive director of South African Airways and of Hyderabad Airport in India .He is Chairman of the European Aviation Club in Brussels.
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| Henrik Hololei Director General MOVE European Commission Nationality: Estonian Education: 1988-1993 Tallinn Technical University / Estonia Department of Economics 1992 Aarhus University / Denmark Political Science and International Economy Employment: 2015 Oct – present: Director General for Mobility and Transport / European Commission 2013 Nov- 2015 Sept Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission 2010 Feb- 2013 Nov Head of Cabinet of Vice President of the European Commission Siim Kallas, responsible for Transport and Mobility 2004 Nov- 2010 Jan Head of Cabinet of Vice President of the European Commission Siim Kallas, responsible for Administration, Audit and Anti-Fraud 2004 May - 2004 Nov Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Siim Kallas / European Commission 2003 – 2004 Chief Government Counsellor for EU Affairs / Estonian Government Office 2002 – 2003 Member of the Convention for Future of Europe, representative of the Estonian Government 2002 - 2003 Director of the Office of European Integration / European Union Secretariat, Estonian Government Office 2001- 2002 Minister of Economic Affairs 1996- 2001 / 2002 - 2003 Director of the Office of European Integration, Estonian Government Office 1996 - 2004 Chairman for the Estonian Council of Senior Civil Servants for the EU Integration (interministerial council for the co-ordination of EU affairs in Estonia) 1996-1996 Counsellor, Office of European Integration, Estonian Government Office 1995-1996 Counsellor to the Minister for European Affairs, Estonian Government Office 1993-1995 Finnish Foreign Trade Association/ Tallinn Branch Assistant Trade Commissioner Honours: The President of Finland has awarded me the Grand Cross of the Lion of Finland (2001) The President of Estonia has awarded me the Order of the White Star (3rd class) (2004) The President of France has awarded me the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite (2005) The President of Latvia has awarded me the Commander of the Cross of Recognition (3rd class) (2015) The Estonian European Movement nominated me "European of the Year" (1.05.2014) | |
| Mr Jim Davidson President & CEO Farelogix Jim Davidson, President and CEO of Farelogix, is a travel industry visionary with extensive experience and demonstrated success leading both large multi-national organizations and start-ups. Under Jim’s leadership, Farelogix is recognized as a disruptor, innovator, and global force in the travel industry, constantly challenging the status quo to deliver world-class distribution and merchandising technology to airlines around the world. A strategic thinker with a passion for innovation, execution, and achievement, Jim is a frequent speaker at industry events on thought provoking airline distribution and merchandising topics that address the evolving travel market. Acknowledged as a thought leader, Jim was named one of the 25 Most Influential Executives in the Business Travel Industry by Business Travel News. Prior to joining Farelogix in 2005, Jim was President and CEO of NTE, an Internet-based supply chain technology company focused on transportation pricing and transaction engines for shippers and carriers. Before NTE, he held several senior leadership roles, including President and CEO of Amadeus Global Travel, North America; head of sales and marketing at System One; and Vice President of Marketing at Reed Travel Group/OAG. Jim holds an undergraduate degree in Business Management, a Masters of Science in Education, and an MBA. | |
| Mrs Christine Ourmières-Widener CEO Flybe Christine joined Flybe as Chief Executive Officer on 16th January 2017. With extensive international experience across the aviation and travel sectors, immediately prior to joining the airline, she was Chief Global Sales Officer for American Express Global Business Travel, responsible for developing the company’s strategy and driving business growth in major markets across North America, Europe and Asia with a strong focus on improving the customer experience. Between 2010 and 2015, Christine was CEO and Accountable Manager with CityJet – becoming the first female CEO of an Irish-licensed airline and one of only 15 across all commercial airlines.She had overall responsibility for all operations including network, distribution, finance, marketing, communications, quality assurance and airport operations; and she played an integral role in securing investors during the sale of the company to AF/KLM, latterly leading projects for the newly independent airline including its rebranding, re-fleeting and deep restructuring. She had previously worked her way up through the ranks of Air France to become the airline's first-ever vice president/general manager of Air France-KLM, USA in New York, having held a number of increasingly senior roles including general manager (UK and Ireland), vice president of Air France global sales and vice president of international sales and, during her tenure as Commercial Director, was instrumental in the launch of Amadeus in France. Christine possesses a Masters degree in Aeronautics from the Ecole Nationale Superieure of ENSMA and an MBA from Essec Business School. | |
| Laurens van den Oever CMO ForwardKeys Laurens recently joined the Valencia based travel analytics startup ForwardKeys as their CMO. ForwardKeys allows companies operating in the travel ecosystem to better anticipate demand by having real-time access to who’s traveling tomorrow in any part of the world. After his studies at the Breda University he completed his master in retail marketing, and started at KLM and Ericsson to continue his career at GfK, one of the leading market insights companies worldwide. In various roles and for different industries he developed new ways of monitoring consumer demand. In his previous role he was responsible for all Travel & Hospitality activities within GfK. Laurens mission is to scale down data complexity towards down-to-earth core take-always, powered by a wealth of knowledge coming from a young company with a big ambition. | |
| Mr Willie Walsh CEO International Airlines Group Willie Walsh became chief executive of International Airlines Group (IAG) in January 2011, joining from British Airways where he was chief executive from October 2005. IAG is the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling. It is one of the world’s largest airline groups with 547 aircraft flying to 268 destinations and carrying more than 100 million passengers each year. Previous to his role at British Airways, Willie was chief executive of Aer Lingus from October 2001. He joined the airline in 1979 as a cadet pilot and became a captain in 1990 before moving into management roles. Originally from Dublin,Willieis also chairman of the Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). | |
| Mr Eamonn Brennan Chief Executive Irish Aviation Authority Eamonn Brennan is Chief Executive of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) with responsibility for the provision of Air Traffic Management (ATM) in Irish controlled airspace (covering some 451,000 square km), aeronautical communications on the North Atlantic (handling over a million flights per annum), and Air Traffic Control at the major Irish Airports, as well as the safety and security regulation of the civil aviation industry in Ireland. Mr. Brennan was the Commercial Director of the Authority prior to his appointment as Chief Executive in 2003. He was educated at St. Joseph's College and University College Galway where he graduated with a B.Comm. He subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He then worked for a decade in executive and consulting roles in Ireland, UK, Malta and in South East Asia, mainly in the travel, aviation and tourism industries. He has an avid interest in aviation and has held a private pilot's licence and has enjoyed flying in Ireland, the UK, Europe and Malaysia. The IAA has a similar structure to the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States and Mr. Brennan is also responsible for the safety regulation of the worldwide operations of major Irish carriers, e.g. Ryanair, Aer Lingus, maintenance organisations, pilots, airworthiness and other regulatory matters. As well as being a member of the Board of the IAA, Mr. Brennan is also a member of the Board of Aireon, a joint venture between the IAA, Iridium Communications Inc., Nav Canada, ENAV (Italy), and Naviair (Denmark), which was established to launch the world’s first satellite based air traffic surveillance system from 2017. He is also a member of the Board of Entry Point North, an international provider of Air Traffic Controller training services, in partnership with Naviair, LFV (Sweden) and Avinor (Norway). He was Chairman of the Eurocontrol Chief Executive's Standing Conference 2004-2006 and Chairman of the Air Navigation Services Board of Eurocontrol 2006-2007. He was a member of the Executive Board of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) from 2005 to 2011 and served as Global Deputy Chairman and Chairman for various periods. He also served as Chairman of the COOPANS ATM Systems Group (Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Croatia) until 2010. | |
| Mr John Byerly Consultant John R. Byerly, Consultant John Byerly advises clients on the full range of international aviation issues, including negotiations, economic and environmental regulation, aviation safety and security, government relations, and strategic planning. John graduated with highest honors from the University of North Carolina, studied European and German law on a Fulbright Scholarship in Berlin, and received his JD from Yale in 1979. Upon graduation, he joined the State Department, serving thirty-one years in positions addressing American foreign policy, national security, and international economic relations. For almost a decade (2001-2010), John was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for market-opening air transport agreements with over 70 countries and led U.S. delegations in talks that secured Open Skies with Germany, France, the European Union, and Japan. He was active in the economic, legal, and environmental work of ICAO and helped implement the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. | |
| Mr Pieter Elbers CEO KLM Royal Dutch Airlines As of October 15, 2014 Pieter Elbers is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Air France KLM Group. His responsibility is to manage KLM overall strategy and performance with €10 bln revenues and 33.000 staff. In this role setting strategic priorities in order to leverage the company’s competitive advantage is his primary focus. He is also responsible for external affairs and the relationships with external and internal stakeholders, as well as for further developing and enhancing (joint venture) alliances and (Skyteam) partnerships. Furthermore, he is accountable for maintaining a customer focused, innovative and efficient organization and operation. He sees leading a motivated executive team and building a firm and fair corporate culture as an important corner stone in reaching his goals. Pieter Elbers has 23 years of experience in KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in various (executive) managerial positions, such as:
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| Mr Peter Bellew Group Managing Director & CEO Malaysia Airlines Berhad Peter Bellew was appointed Group Managing Director (“MD”) and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of MAG and Malaysia Airlines Berhad (“MAB”) on 1st July 2016. He brings with him over 20 years experience in the aviation industry. He holds a Bachelor of Business Studies (Hons) from the Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Peter Bellew joined MAB as Chief Operations Officer on 1 September 2015. He was appointed Executive Director on to the Board of MAB on 19 April 2016 and subsequently named Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to MAB Peter was at Ryanair where he served in various roles with increasing responsibility since 2006 leaving the airlines as the Director of Flight Operations for up to 72 bases, operating a total of 320 aircraft. In this role, he ensured cost effective operations and punctuality at more than 150 airports in over 30 countries, created a training organisation for 600 new Boeing pilots, built employee representative council structures in 19 countries, opened 61 new overseas bases, and introduced new technologies to reduce costs across the airline. Peter also served as the Head of Sales and Marketing at Ryanair where he played a pivotal role in introducing new customer service initiatives, pan-European TV advertising, and positive press relations contributing to record sales. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Director Flight Operations. Before Ryanair he was the CEO and founder of vbnets.com/wapprofit Ireland established in 1998, an IT service business focussed on mobile wireless technology. Peter served as the Kerry Airport General Manager in Ireland from 1993 to 1997 and founded Kerry Holidays – an inbound tour operator to support new airline services to the region. Prior to that, Peter was the Drive Ireland Managing Director Liverpool, UK from 1989 – 1993, founded the first direct sell tour operators | |
| Kieron Branagan CEO OpenJaw Technologies Kieron has over 30 years experience in the technology industry as a senior executive, technologist and venture capital partner. Before joining OpenJaw Technologies in 2007, Kieron was a partner at ACT Venture Capital where he gained extensive venture capital experience of building companies in both the software and semiconductor industries. Kieron has managed a significant number of venture capital transactions including fundraisings, exits and M&A. Prior to the world of venture capital, Kieron was an executive at middleware company IONA Technologies where he held a variety of senior roles in product management, marketing and vertical business development as well as being responsible for the creation of IONA’s Airline & Travel Industry Group. Kieron has also worked for travel technology company Datalex where he held a variety of software engineering and management roles. Kieron graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a degree in Computer Science. | |
| Paul Pessutti GM and Global Head of Travel & Transportation SAP Paul is Senior Vice President & GM of Travel, Transportation & Hospitality Industries at SAP. In this role Paul is responsible for T&T industry revenue and pipeline, establishing and maintaining key customer relationships, ensuring customer success, enhancing the solution portfolio, growing the ecosystem and is the brand ambassador for T&T worldwide. The industry consists of 9 Industry Segments which are Airlines, Airports, Passenger Transport, Hospitality, Travel Service Providers, Freight Forwarding and 3PL, Rail Cargo, Liner Shipping and Trucking. Paul has over twenty years of sales, marketing, product, operations and management experience in the Software, Transportation, Logistics, 3PL, and Travel industries. Paul joined SAP Industries from SAP Analytics where he was responsible for revenue, go to market strategy and field execution in North America. Prior to this role, Paul also led North America Finance Sales, the Analytics Center of Excellence and was a founder of the SAP GRC business. Paul joined SAP in 2005 to build the SAP go to market for Global Trade Management. Prior to joining SAP in 2005, Paul served in management roles at GT Nexus, Open Harbor, and ClearCross, focusing on supply chain analytics, transportation management and compliance; all delivered in the Cloud. Paul began his career at AP Moller/Maersk Line in their prestigious executive management program and went on to hold a number of corporate, field, and management positions over a seven-year span. A former President and Chairman of the Pacific Transportation Association, Paul frequently speaks and is consulted on the topics of big data, analytics, risk management, performance management, supply chain automation, ocean transportation and global trade management by organizations such as AAEI, OWIT, ACI, Rutgers Business School, ICPA, American Shipper, Brookings Institute and WISPUBS. Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, as well as degrees in Business Administration and Asian Studies from Providence College | |
| Mr Hugh Aitken Director of Business Development Skyscanner for Business Hugh is director of business development and commercial operations for Skyscanner for Business, an independent unit within Skyscanner, offering a customizable suite of tools designed to power the travel internet. Hugh leads the commercial team, spanning EMEA, the Americas and Asia Pacific, responsible for forging strategic relationships with partners across the travel industry and beyond. Under his guidance over 400 partners are now powered by Skyscanner for Business through the White Label and API products. Additionally, Hugh has taken to market a range of unique analytical tools which provide partners with a unique insight into travel demand and trends. Hugh has previously spoken at ITB Asia and World Routes 2015. Prior to joining Skyscanner, Hugh spent 4 years at the European low cost airline, EasyJet, where he looked after the commercial performance and market strategy for the airline across London, Scotland, the North East of England, as well as the Middle East and Iceland. Prior to that role, Hugh spent thirteen years at UK airport operator, BAA, where he held a number of senior commercial and business development roles. | |
| Mr Ian Heywood Global Head of Product & Marketing, Air Commerce Travelport Ian has recently been appointed to the new role heading up Product and Marketing for the Air Commerce line of business. This role involves owning the overall responsibility and being fully accountable for end-to-end product life cycle management for all Air line of business products, from Conception (including customer research, commercial team input, R&D work and competitive analysis), Launch and Adoption (including customer operations and ongoing marketing/positioning), Ongoing growth and Product retirement/sunset. Ian joined Travelport 3.5 years ago where a key part of Ian’s work has been the launch of the Travelport Merchandising Platform with ‘Aggregated Shopping’ ‘Ancillary Services’ and ‘Rich Content and Branding’ which enables airlines to adapt their business models to whichever competitive/economic environment they operate in and for travel agents to access enhanced airline content in their normal workflow. Prior to Travelport, Ian spent the majority of his working life at British Airways, where he joined as an apprentice and held a number of commercial roles in the UK and overseas. He has also worked for Qatar Airways as SVP Global Sales and Distribution. | |
| Mr Derek Sharp Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Air Commerce Group Travelport Derek Sharp has global responsibility for Travelport’s commercial relationships with airlines and rail suppliers. In this role, he leads a worldwide team of sales, business development and operations experts focused on expanding and improving upon the company’s value proposition to the supplier community.In addition, Mr. Sharp also manages Travelport’s airline IT solutions business, which delivers hosting and IT solutions to airlines around the world. Mr. Sharp joined Travelport in 2010 from EDS/HP where he held numerous senior roles in the US, Europe and Asia in strategic sales, corporate development and major account management. Prior to EDS/HP, Mr. Sharp worked as a management consultant with Bain & Company and as an international account executive with United Parcel Services (UPS).He has a BA in Political Science from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Mr. Sharp lives in London with his wife, Missy, and their two children. | |
| Mr Fergal Kelly CCO Travelport Digital As Travelport Digital's CCO, Fergal holds responsibility for Sales & Marketing, Product and Market Strategy. Travelport Digital delivers advanced, customer-centric mobile travel solutions for airlines and travel brands that drive end-traveller engagement leading to increases in customer value, loyalty & revenue. Prior to joining Travelport Digital (formerly MTT) in October 2015, Fergal held a number of senior leadership roles at Travelport including Chief of Staff and Head of Commercial Strategy, reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer of Travelport. In this role he was responsible for the definition and development of Travelport’s commercial strategy worldwide including identifying and delivering key strategic initiatives to advance Travelport’s mission to redefine travel commerce. Prior to Travelport, he worked in product roles at SITA and was previously Head of Product for a cloud based solution start-up in Dublin. | |
| Kurt Knackstedt Chief Executive Officer Troovo In early 2015, Kurt was appointed CEO of Troovo, a newly launched technology company focused on driving greater efficiency and automation of transaction-based industries. Troovo’s approach to automation is flexible, nimble and collaborative, helping to increase customer profitability through lower operational costs. Based out of Australia, Troovo is working with companies around the world to help streamline transactional processing, optimise travel operations and integrate multiple data streams for maximum business productivity. In January 2014, Kurt assumed the role of President of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). ACTE is the leading industry body for advocacy, research and education for the global corporate travel industry. As President, Kurt is the senior volunteer leader of ACTE and serves at the order of the Board and the membership. The President is the Chair of both the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. The President also has general supervision of all business and affairs of the Association and gives direction and inertia to the formulation and achievement of the Associations philosophy, mission, strategy and goals, and also serves as primary spokesperson. Kurt’s term runs through the end of 2016. Prior to Troovo, Kurt was with global mining giant Rio Tinto as the Global Category Leader for Travel and Expense Management. In this role based in Singapore, Kurt led Rio Tinto’s global Travel and Expense strategy with key suppliers focusing on improving the total Rio Tinto travel experience. He had global responsibility for travel management, strategic airline, hotel and car sourcing strategies, and driving best practice in corporate card and expense management processes and systems. Before joining Rio Tinto, Kurt was Principal of intelligent.travel consulting, a consultancy devoted to assisting corporations, technology companies, travel suppliers and agents, and travel management companies get the most out of their technology and product solutions, supplier engagements, social media and marketing plans, and strategic development efforts. Prior to his consultancy, Kurt was Vice President and Head of Advisory Services, Field Effectiveness, Marketing and Product Management, Asia Pacific, at American Express Business Travel in Sydney. In that role, Kurt drove a regionally-focused approach to these four core disciplines, to deliver optimum customer value and revenue growth to the business. Prior to joining American Express, Kurt held roles at Travelport Corporate Travel Solutions as Senior Director, International Markets, responsible for strategic development, marketing, partnership activity and relationship management, based out of the UK. Prior to that he was Director of Product Management and Marketing, Asia Pacific for Travelport splitting his time between Sydney and Hong Kong. Kurt began his corporate travel industry career at Rosenbluth International in Philadelphia, USA, in product management, marketing and strategy roles, culminating in his appointment as Director, Global Marketing - Strategic Travel Services. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Indiana University, USA. Kurt is based in Sydney, Australia and is a dual citizen of the USA and Australia. | |
| Ms Siew Hoon Yeoh Founder and Editor Web in Travel Yeoh Siew Hoon is the founder of WIT (Web In Travel), an Asia-based news platform and events community for anyone passionate about travel and technology. WIT runs conferences in Middle East (Dubai), Indonesia (Jakarta and Bali) and Japan (Tokyo) and its flagship conference in Singapore is APAC’s largest and most diverse gathering of online travel professionals. In 2016, it launched its first WIT Europe in London to bring the Asia story to Europe. A travel journalist by background, she founded WIT in 2005 and sold it to Northstar Travel Media in April 2014. She was awarded Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year by the Singapore Tourism Board in 2014. Post-acquisition, she oversaw the editorial strategy for TravelWeekly Asia as well as Northstar’s other media assets in the region. The Penang-born Siew Hoon is also a published author and she’s written several books, including “One Hour Around Asia: Tales of Condoms, Chillies and Curries” and “The Story of Baitong and Boon” which she co-wrote with 16-year-old Phantila Phataraprasit for the Himmapaan Foundation of Thailand undet its “Buy A Book, Help A Child To Read” initiative. For every book sold, the Foundation donates a book to a child. It is to help spread the love of reading among children, increase English literacy in rural Asia and to raise awareness of the plight of elephants in an increasingly urbanised Asia. | |
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