| Mr David Christensen Experienced Business Leader in Asia Pacific David Christensen is a widely experienced executive across the Asia Pacific region, having lived and worked in a dozen countries in addition to his native New Zealand and adopted Australian home. He has a background in advertising, financial services, business consulting and more recently corporate travel, having been Asia Pacific Vice President for Global Supplier Management with both American Express Business Travel as well as Carlson Wagonlit Travel although not, as he points out with regret, at the same time. An active commentator on the travel industry through his website ‘InversionPoint.com’ he has produced well researched and thought provoking papers including a balanced discussion of whether MNC’s should appoint a single global TMC and a discussion about how TMC’s should address the perennial conflict of interest issue. David currently lives in Bangkok where he juggles the management of a natural health and beauty products business with a variety of consulting assignments, particularly where he is able to explore his passion for creating memorable presentations for clients across the world, where he and his business are known both as ‘The PowerPoint Exorcist’ (providing deliverance from presentations that suck), and Apocalypse Powerpoint’ (because he loves the smell of presentations in the morning).
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| Ms Dylah Harharah CTE, BBA (Hons) Head of Travel Management Vital Dylah Harharah’s corporate travel management experience extends across public and private sector. She was appointed Head, Travel Management at Vital (a department of Ministry of Finance) in January 2007 and is responsible for the development from ground up and implementation of the Vital Managed Travel Program for Singapore Public Sector in April 2008. The travel program serves 100 government agencies with a one-stop travel solution in dedicated Travel Agent Services, Travel Insurance, Corporate Card, Taxi Card services as well as corporate rates from various Airlines and Hotels worldwide. The successful launch of the Managed Travel Program which realized immediate savings for Whole-of-Government integration efforts have garnered recognition in both public and private sector through winning of various awards such as ‘Ministry of Finance High Impact Award (2010)’, ‘2nd PATA - WDA Productivity Awards (2011)’ and ‘PS21 Excellence in Public Service Award - Best Practice in Resource Management (2012)’. Dylah is an active contributor in several travel management related industry conferences and networking sessions, where she was an invited panellist at CTW Asia-Pacific Conference in October 2010 and the ACTE Asia Education Conference in August 2012, speaking as Subject Expert on the topic of the partnership between the Government and the Private Sector in the implementation of Vital’s Travel Managed Programme.
Prior to this role, Dylah held a number of corporate account management roles in the private sector from 2000 to 2006 in Rosenbluth International , TQ3 Travel Solutions and OpenWorld Asia. Before joining the corporate travel industry, Dylah started her career in public service as an Internal Auditor for 3 years at the Ministry of Education and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with High Honours from the National University of Singapore.
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| Mr James Rhee CEO North Asia AirAsia James Rhee is CEO of AirAsia for North Asia where he is responsible for expanding their business into Japan, Korea, China and the Philippines. Previously, he was a Senior Adviser at the Octave Group (a Thiel Capital Company) where he was leading the development and execution of acquisition strategy for a $1 billion business in the tech industry for the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to Octave Group, he was Vice President and GM of TE Connectivity’s Global PC Business. Previously, he was the Executive Officer responsible for APJ Large Enterprise Marketing at Dell, which is corporate marketing for all APJ lines of business (PCs, servers, storage, software, services and solution) that delivered $4 billion of revenue. He was also Executive Officer responsible for North Asia Sales Operations and Marketing where he led marketing and sales for all lines of business that delivered $2.4 billion of revenue. Prior to Dell, he was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company in Seoul, Korea. He began his career at the International Monetary Fund as a Research Officer advising former Soviet Union countries on monetary policy. James received his M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his B.S. in Economics from the University of Minnesota. | |||||||||||||||||
| Ms Kathleen Tan CEO AirAsia Expedia Kathleen Tan is a name synonymous with the amazing story of AirAsia’s growth and success.She is a dynamic business leader, opportunistic marketer, and innovative thinker who has helped to build AirAsia while serving as Group CEO and Co-Founder Tony Fernandes’s right-hand woman responsible for top-line performance and overseeing up to fifteen departments. Her most outstanding achievement has been driving the commercial success of Asia’s biggest low cost carrier in which she successfully transformed the Asian aviation landscape.Under her tenure, AirAsia has become a globally renowned brand, culminating in being named “World’s Best Low Cost Airline” by Skytrax a record four years running, and a financial powerhouse delivering double-digit revenue growth annually. That AirAsia now has the largest network in Southeast Asia, a tremendous marketing prowess, a reputation for innovation, Asia’s biggest airline social network presence, and a range of partnerships and ancillary income streams owes tremendously to Kathleen’s leadership in her eight years at the company. Her achievements have garnered her major awards and accolades and respect among the airline and online travel industries, including being named a Top 10 Most Influential Woman Leader in Travel and Marketer of the Year by Web In Travel and being called an “aviation legend” by Baidu, China’s largest search engine. In January 2013, Kathleen was appointed as CEO for AAE Travel, the joint venture between AirAsia and Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company. Kathleen, who has a deep understanding of the Asian markets, and has been sitting on the board of directors since the formation of the joint venture. In May 2013, she took the Expedia brand to new heights when she appeared in the Asian edition of The Apprentice, one of the most successful reality TV series in the world.The programme which premiered in 21 Asian countries, saw Kathleen taking on roles of the CEO of Expedia Asia as well as ‘The Advisor’ to ‘The Boss’ Tony Fernandes. Kathleen was named the ‘Industry’s Most Influential Person’ in the annual China Finance Summit in 2013. In the same year, she was named amongst the ‘Top 50 Global Marketers in Travel’ by US-based travel and tech news portal Skift and 2012 Marketer of the Year by influential Asian travel portal, Web In Travel. Kathleen is also a savvy a social media marketer; her Sina Weibo account (China’s Twitter equivalent), which has 327,000 followers, counts amongst the top 2000 most influential accounts out of 300 million users in China. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Steven Dickson Group Head of Ground and Inflight Operations AirAsia Group Steven is currently the Group Head of Ground and Inflight Operations for the AirAsia Group, based and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Steven
is responsible for the overall airport experience across the AirAsia network of
90 airports and leads a diverse team of 3800 staff across the five AirAsia
branded airlines (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and, launching in
2014, AirAsia India). He also manages
the AirAsia inflight operations division, managing catering and inflight sales
logistics across the Group.
Steven
and his team have been responsible for driving AirAsia’s self-service strategy
and recently were first to market in Malaysia with their self-tagging
product. In addition, he is currently
extending the self-service programme across the Asian network and leading the
charge with automated baggage drops, mobile boarding passes and “straight to
gate” capability, removing document checks for the majority of AirAsia’s
guests.
Prior to
his current role, Steven was most recently Group Head of Operations for the
Jetstar Group. Since leaving easyJet as
General Manager, Operations in 2006, he has worked in both the operational and
commercial areas for client airlines in Europe, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Mexico
and Panama.
Steven previously appeared as a guest lecturer at
several major European Universities, providing an insight into the execution of
the low-cost airline business model.
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| Mr Azran Osman-Rani CEO AirAsia X In July 2007, Azran was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia X, the world’s first truly low-cost long-haul airline. He led the start-up team that developed the business plan, raised capital, secured relevant licenses and approvals, acquired aircraft and launched AirAsia X’s first inaugural flight to the Gold Coast, Australia in November 2007. Despite a tumultuous 2008 and 2009 in global aviation, AirAsia X has expanded from one aircraft to eleven, tripling revenue and passenger volume to RM750 million and over 1 million passengers in 2009, and breaking the RM1 billion revenue mark in 2010, in its third full year of operations. AirAsia X now flies to twelve destinations across the Asia Pacific region – breaking many long-haul airline conventions and pioneering various innovative services, including the world’s first LCC flabed premium seats. Even with its nascent aircraft fleet, AirAsia X operates with the world’s lowest airline unit cost and the world’s highest aircraft utilization, while maintaining industry leading engineering reliability and on-time performance. Despite a lot of initial skepticism from industry observers, AirAsia X achieved positive operating cashflow in less than six months, ratcheted up over RM400 million in sales in its first year, and began operating with positive net profitability by the end of 2008. AirAsia X is an associate of AirAsia Berhad, the public-listed largest low-cost airline in Asia. Through common shareholding, a long-term brand license agreement and shared services and resources, AirAsia X is able to capitalize on the strength of AirAsia’s global brand, unparalleled short-haul feeder network in Southeast Asia, and scale benefits from shared operations. Based on its pioneering business model, AirAsia X has received tremendous international publicity, and has been recognized as the 2008 Best New Airline and jointly awarded the 2009 Airline of the Year award with AirAsia Berhad. It is also featured as the only Asian case study in ‘BOLD: How to be Brave in Business and Win’ by Shaun Smith. Prior to his appointment, Azran was formerly the Senior Director of Business Development for Astro All Asia Networks plc, a leading Asian digital satellite television and radio broadcaster, where he led the start-up and operational launch of Astro’s international investments and joint ventures across Southeast Asia, India and Greater China – having oversight management responsibility for a portfolio of over US$300 million invested in these businesses. Azran was formerly an Associate Partner of McKinsey & Company, an international management consultancy, where he co-led its Southeast Asia Corporate Finance & Strategy practice. He holds a Masters degree in Management Science and a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering, both from Stanford University. He is a Fellow of CPA Australia. Azran was recently nominated to the Board of Directors of Tourism Malaysia by the Minister of Tourism. A prolific international speaker, he has been invited as one of the Young Leaders at the 2010 World Islamic Economic Forum and represented Malaysia as one of Asia Society’s 2009 Asia 21 Delegates. He is also a member of the Young Presidents Organisation (YPO). He is 40 years young, a competitive Ultimate Frisbee player, a keen surfer and snowboarder, and has completed ten full marathons in the last 2 years. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Tetsuya (Ted) Nozaki Member Board of Trustee Airlink Tetsuya "Ted" Nozaki began his career in aircraft leasing and financing in 1989 at ITOCHU Corporation in Tokyo. In 1996, he relocated to Greenwich, Connecticut, accepting an assignment at ITOCHU AirLease, Inc , a US subsidiary of ITOCHU, as General Manager. Ted joined Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) in 2002 to strengthen their aircraft leasing business. In 2004, MC Aircraft Management International Inc. (predecessor of MC Aviation Partners America Inc - MCAP) was established in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Ted accepted an assignment as General Manager. MCAP owns and manages more than 125 aircraft as of July 2014. Ted is currently the Senior Vice President – Sales & Marketing at MCAM. Ted also has been helping Airlink, a non-profit organization, as a volunteer, from its inception in 2009. Airlink works with airlines worldwide to provide non-governmental organizations with passenger seats and cargo space for free or at discounted rates so that such non-governmental organizations can transport emergency rescue/medical personnel and humanitarian goods in case of natural and manmade disasters. Ted was appointed as a board of trustee of Airlink in 2013.
Ted graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering (naval architecture). He is a certified rugby referee in California and runs fields over the weekend. Ted speaks English and Japanese fluently. Ted also can communicate in Spanish and Portuguese. Ted resides in Irvine, California with In 1996 he moved to Greenwich, Connecticut his wife, daughter, age 15, and son, age 13.
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| Mr Umit Cholak Director Revenue Management Amadeus In his current position in Amadeus, Umit Cholak is responsible for managing the overall Product direction and marketing for Altea Revenue Management and Altea Inventory. Umit has more than 20 years of industry experience in major airlines (TWA, UAL), and major GDS/CRSs (Sabre, SITA, Amadeus) working on applications development and product design in support of Passenger and Cargo Revenue Management, Inventory Management, Pricing, Call Center operations, Airport Customer Service, and Airport System Operation Center functions. He served as the elected president of AGIFORS (Airline Group of the International Federation of Operations Research Societies) during 2001 – 2003 and the chairman of AGIFORS Yield Management Study Group during 1996-1998. He is also honored as an AGIFORS Fellow by the Airline Group of the International Federation of Operations Research Societies. Umit holds an M.S. in Financial Management & Trading from IIT, Chicago, IL and an M.S. in
Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA.
He is married and has a 16 year old son. He is currently residing in Nice France.
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| Mr Hazem Hussein Mansour Executive Vice President Airline Commercial, APAC Amadeus GDS Singapore Hazem’s role is to create and manage the commercial airline strategy for the Asia Pacific region, including both Amadeus’ IT and Distribution businesses. He has held this role since May 2012 and is based in Amadeus Asia Pacific’s regional office in Singapore. Hazem is responsible for developing strategies to address the growth for Amadeus’ airline business in Asia Pacific, including growing the organisation and skills necessary to support its operations. Hazem’s industry experience spans nearly two decades. He has worked with Amadeus since 2005 demonstrating his business leadership abilities in markets such as Spain, Egypt, Middle East, Africa and North America, where he held senior management roles in both the airline and travel agency divisions. However, his passion has always been on developing and growing business relationships with new and existing airlines and ensuring that Amadeus continues to meet the growing needs of global airline customers.
Prior to working with Amadeus, Hazem worked for First Data Corporation (1999-2004) as Regional Vice President Western Europe and MEA, responsible for the financial services outsourcing and money transfer division. He also worked for IBM WTC (1994-1998) as Regional Director of the outsourcing division.
Hazem has dual American and Egyptian citizenship. He holds a BSc in Electronics & Communications and an MBA in Sales and Marketing.
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| Mr Andrew Herdman Director General Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Mr. Andrew Herdman is Director General of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mr. Herdman is committed to expanding the role of the Association as the leading trade organisation for international airlines based in the Asia-Pacific region, addressing a wide range of both regional and global policy issues affecting the industry. AAPA works closely with regulators and other industry associations with the aim of fostering the sustainable growth of international civil aviation. Mr. Herdman previously held a number of senior positions with the Swire Group, Cathay Pacific Airways and other aviation related companies based in the Asia Pacific region. He is a graduate of Oxford University. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Todd Arthur Board Member Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) Current sitting on the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) Board of directors representing Asia, with over 20 years of experience in the travel industry Todd joined BCD Travel in 2007. He is the vice president of sales and account management for the Asia Pacific region, with responsibility of strategic growth and account development. Prior to joining the Asia Pacific team his most recent role was with Advito, the wholly owned but independently operated subsidiary of BCD Travel. Todd directed air and hotel sourcing projects, contract management and strategic travel management for Advito clients globally. Prior to joining Advito, Todd was General Manger South China for Finnair. In this role he was responsible for strategic corporate contracts, revenue & yield and sales strategy for the Southern China market. Prior to joining Finnair, Todd served as sales manager for Malaysia Airlines on their North American commercial team. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Benson Tang Regional Director, Asia Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) Benson Tang, has been for the past two years ACTE Regional Director, Asia who based in Hong Kong. Before joining the team, he worked in Goldman Sachs Asia LLC for the past 11 years, responsible for the corporate travel program for the whole Asia region. He worked in various different travel industry leadership positions before joining the corporate travel industry including Cathay Pacific Airways, The then Hong Kong Tourist Association and Farrington Travel. Benson is currently a part-time student for his Doctoral Degree in Hotel and Tourism Management in The School of Hotel and Tourism Management in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He got his Master degree in The University of Birmingham in United Kingdom. He was the first ever 1st class honour graduate in Bachelor of Arts in Tourism Management in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Boris Poretskiy Partner AT Kerney Boris Poretskiy is partner with the A.T.Kearney global TTI (transport, Tourism, Infrastructure) practice, based in Moscow, Russia. Boris Poretskiy is active in all modes of transportation, with greater focus on airlines and airports. Recent topics that Mr. Poretskiy is working on include cost efficiency for airlines, frequent flyer programs, marketing strategies for airlines, non-aviation revenue growth for airports. Boris Poretskiy holds a Master of Management degree from the Kellogg School of Management (USA) and MS in engineering from the Baltic Technical University (Russia). | |||||||||||||||||
| Ms Adriana Nainggolan Travel Program Manager Autodesk Asia Adriana is a Travel Program Manager at Autodesk Asia Pte Ltd. Prior to Autodesk, she worked at American Airlines for 15 years holding various roles both in operations and sales. She also joined the regional account management team of Carlson Wagonlit Travel and BCD Travel to manage global accounts. There was a period of time when she changed industry and worked at a global staffing company for 3 ½ years. Her main responsibility at Autodesk is to manage Autodesk global travel program for the Asia Pacific region. She acts as strategic travel business partner and work closely with all businesses within the organization. She manages vendor relationships with the dedicated global TMC as well as hotels and car rentals. She understands that as the way people do business change, so does travel program. There are elements in the program itself that need to be changed, developed or improved from time to time along with changes required by the business. She understands the importance of managing a sustainable travel program where despite of challenges, there are opportunities of doing new things to keep the travel program relevant and still meets the needs of Autodesk business .
Projects she is currently doing are implementation of air travel on corporate card and online booking tool which are being rolled out in phases. The goal for both programs is to focus on visibility and transparency of travel costs in which are managed at individual level.
Adriana works closely with her global team and directly reports into Bruce Finch, who is the Director Global Travel & CREFT Sustainability based in San Rafael, California. She currently resides in Singapore and she can be contacted at adriana.nainggolan@autodesk.com
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| Mr Morris Sim CEO and Co-founder Brand Karma Morris Sim is CEO & Co-Founder of Circos Brand Karma, the only marketing services cloud designed specifically for the travel and hospitality industries. Brand Karma’s services help brands measure and manage their social reputation, identify and convert leads found in social conversations, and train travel professionals to better leverage social and mobile media to improve business performance. Founded in 2006, Circos has offices in the United States, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, France, and China. Trained as an engineer and armed with marketing experiences, Morris has identified and applied innovative trends to improve global business performance for more than 20 years. As Senior Director of Marketing at Microsoft, Morris pioneered the use of social media to improve Microsoft’s brand perceptions and market share worldwide. Prior to that, he led the luxury fashion industry to monetize online by building the first branded e-commerce site as the Chief Technology Officer of PoloRalphLauren.com. Currently, Morris also serves as an Executive Director for Montara Hospitality Group, whose award-winning Thailand resorts, Trisara and Boathouse on Kata Beach, are among the most sought-after hotels by luxury travellers. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Jason Bitter CEO Bravo Passenger Solutions Jason is the CEO of Bravo Passenger Solutions, a Singapore-based provider of passenger reservations and systems for airlines, with an emphasis on LCCs and the Asian market. Jason has extensive experience in the low-cost airline sector having been in senior positions (CCO, COO & CEO) with low-cost and regional airlines in Europe, India, Japan, North Africa and Australia. Most recently, Jason was the CEO of Skywest Airlines until the successful sale to Virgin Australia in 2013 for US$100 million. Jason served as a founding member and advisor to Peach in Japan, who use the Bravo system, which led to his assembling a team of very experienced LCC airline managers and to serve airlines not focused on what is cool or interesting from an IT standpoint, but by focusing on service and applying LCC principals to systems to best achieve the goals of airline customers. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Xiaoqun Li Vice Professor CAMIC Associate Professor &Deputy Director of Airport Economy Research Centre, Director of Economy and Policy Tuition and Research Office, CAMIC, Researcher of China Civil Aviation Business Management Research Base. Mr.LI Xiaoqun participated in more than 40 projects and assignments from Civil Aviation Soft Science Fund and enterprises, with subjects covering aviation economics and policy,LCC,regional aviation,etc.His research achievements won him many academic awards. Mr.LI took part in development of State Council’s Several Opinions to Promote Development of Civil Aviation Industry as well as CAAC’S Directive Opinion to Promote Development of LCC in China.He published many papers and articles about LCC on influential magazines and newspapers, such as The People's Daily, the most influential newspaper in China. Mr.LI often takes part in the meetings and forums concerning LCC and regional aviation and he often does interviews from radio and TV. Mr.LI holds Master Degree of Economics From Remin University of China in 2003. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Michael Cunningham Chief Commercial Officer CarTrawler Michael Cunningham joined CarTrawler in 2012. As Chief Commercial Officer, Michael oversees all aspects of CarTrawler business development worldwide including sales, marketing and partner management. Michael brings over 25 years of experience in IT and travel related industries to his role. Prior to joining CarTrawler, he headed up SITA’s global sales operation for airline solutions. He previously served as Director of E-commerce strategy for SITA’s 100 airline customers and helped several airlines worldwide implement effective online strategies. Michael began his career in IT in the healthcare industry and holds a Bachelor of Education from the National University of Ireland and a degree in Information Systems from Trinity College Dublin. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Garry Kingshott Chief Executive Adviser Cebu Pacific Air Garry Kingshott is Cebu Pacific’s Chief Executive Adviser. Educated in Adelaide, South Australia and the Wharton Business School, Garry is an experienced Senior Executive and Company Director. He has achieved strategic and financial objectives by providing strong leadership and developing sound customer-based strategic plans in a variety of businesses in different parts of the world, including Cebu Pacific. He was asked to join Jet Airways as Chief Commercial Officer in 2006 and was later named Chief Executive Officer of Jet Lite (India) Ltd. in 2007. He joined Cebu Pacific Air as Chief Executive Adviser in May of 2008. In 2010, Garry Kingshott led Cebu Pacific (CEB) to becoming the largest international low-cost carrier (LCC) IPO offered globally to date. CEB raised PhP23.3 billion (equivalent to US$539 million) prior to exercise of the over allotment option from its initial public offering (IPO). Under his leadership, CEB sold 186.6 million shares, or 30.4 percent of total outstanding shares, to investors in the Philippines and abroad. The IPO is the largest ever conducted in the Philippines in US dollar terms. Garry is regarded as a thought leader in the global aviation industry. His very straightforward and no non-sense approach in citing the industry’s challenges and strategies is valued by both peers and global competitors. He has been resource speaker, and keynote or panel resource person in some of the world’s well-attended conferences. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Anup Mysoor Managing Director Asia Head | Aviation, Power and Utilities Investment Banking Division Citigroup Anup Mysoor is a Managing Director in Citi's Investment Banking division with responsibility for the Aviation, Power & Utilities sectors in Asia Pacific. Anup has 24 years experience in banking and M&A. Prior to his current appointment in 2008, he was the Asia Head of the Industrials, Real Estate, Consumer and Healthcare group in Citi's corporate bank in Asia Pacific. Anup moved to Hong Kong in 2002 from London where he was responsible for aviation industry coverage for key clients based in Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining aviation in 2000, he was co-head of the German team at Citi's Asset Finance Group in London. He started his career in 1990 as an M&A analyst. Anup
is an Associate of the CFA Society of the UK (ASIP), earned a BCom from the
University of Mysore (India), an MSc in Investment Analysis from the University
of Stirling (Scotland) and an MBA from Manchester Business School (England),
where he also used to be a Visiting Fellow.
Since the Global Financial Crisis, Anup
has been involved in over 90 strategic transactions with a total value in
excess of USD 50 Bn.
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| Ms Lena Khoo Vice President, Global Travel Department Credit Suisse Lena Khoo is the Credit Suisse’s Regional Travel Manager, responsible for managing the travel program across APAC region, ensuring the region has the appropriate fit with the global program and regional needs, and supporting the travel program objectives including client engagement, corporate travel agency, airline, hotel, technology, policy and process. Her responsibilities also include implementing the strategy for achieving all targeted saves whilst maximizing business requirements and client satisfaction. Lena has worked in the travel industry for over 20 years and during her career, she has worked in TMCs, Hotels and Airlines, primarily in the corporate sales and account management role, including client consulting and supplier negotiation and management. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Andrew Bunn Manager Singapore & Brunei Emirates Andrew (46) studied Business Administration at the University of Westminster in London, during which time he developed a keen interest in international airline management and airline economics. Prior to joining Emirates he spent 17 years with Lufthansa German Airlines gaining a wealth of experience in a variety of positions in Europe and Asia, most recently as General Manager Hong Kong, Southern China and Taiwan. Andrew joined Emirates in April this year, taking over responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the Airline’s operations in Singapore and Brunei including managing Emirates’ commercial strategy and developing its brand profile across these markets. Andrew is married with two daughters and is a sports enthusiast and keen runner. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Trent Mumford Manager – International & Government Affairs Emirates A public affairs and strategic communications specialist, Trent Mumford joined Emirates Airline in July 2010 and currently manages the airline’s International & Government Affairs in the Asia, Australasia, the Sub-Continent and Africa. | |||||||||||||||||
| Ms Simrat Sawhney Client Partner As a part of Facebook's APAC team, Simrat leads the online travel and hospitality vertical for the South East Asian market. Prior to her current role, Simrat led the e-commerce vertical for the India market and worked with the largest online retailers in the country to help them achieve their business objectives on Facebook. Simrat is responsible for advising online brands on their performance and profitability focussed digital marketing and branding strategies. Prior to joining Facebook, Simrat worked as a Consultant at Brand Karma and has a wealth of experience advising luxury, travel and hospitality brands on their online reputation management and brand strategy. Personally, Simrat is a travel enthusiast and chocolate aficionado. She loves spending her time on airplanes as traveling is her idea of work, vacation, romance, retirement, and everything in between.
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| Mr Kari Savolainen CEO Finavia Corporation Mr Kari Savolainen is the CEO of Finavia Corporation since January 2012. Prior to his appointment at Finavia he worked as the CEO of Steveco Oy, the leading port operator in Finland, for over 6 years. He has a strong background in logistics and IT with four years as SVP of Logistics Services at Itella (Finnish Post Corporation), six years at Finnlines Oyj as SVP of Business Development and IT, and over 11 years of experience in various IT-related tasks at Kymmene Oy. Kari Savolainen has served as Chairman or Board Member in various companies or organizations. Currently he acts as Board Member at Service Sector Employers PALTA, member of the negotiation body of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, member of the Advisory Board of Ilmarinen pension insurance company and member of the Traffic Committee of Finland Chambre of Commerce. Mr Savolainen holds an MSc in nuclear physics. His interests involve sports (cross-country skiing, cycling, swimming), classical music and mathematics. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Bruce Nobles CEO FMI Air Bruce R. Nobles is currently the Chief Executive Officer of FMI Air Ltd. He began advising the company in May 2013 and came on board as CEO on February 1, 2014. In that role he is leading the effort to get government certification and launch scheduled operations with regional jets during the second quarter of 2014. A forty eight year veteran of the transportation industry, Mr. Nobles is credited with previously leading the successful restructuring of Hawaiian Airlines, developing and introducing operations for the Pan Am Shuttle and for creating and implementing operations for the Trump Shuttle. Mr. Nobles was most recently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Jamaica Limited, the national airline of Jamaica. During his second term at the carrier, he spearheaded a turnaround in the financial and operational results of the airline and assisted in the successful divestment of the Company by the Government of Jamaica. He was previously the President and Chief Operating Officer of Air Jamaica from 2002 to 2003 when the company was privately owned. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Emirsyah Satar CEO Garuda Indonesia | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Con Korfiatis Partner Heidrick and Struggles Con is a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles, in its Industrial Practice focusing on the Airlines, Aviation, Defence & Aerospace sector in Asia. Whilst based in Heidrick & Struggles Singapore office, he will also soon lead the company’s entry into the emerging Indonesia market. Con is an airline and aviation executive with over 20 years experience gained in a number of senior roles and airlines. Airline experience covers executive management, finance, strategy, commercial, brand and marketing, network, government affairs, alliances and airline operations. This experience has been across a number of Asia Pacific countries. Experience in some of the region's most successful airlines including Qantas and Singapore Airlines and responsible for the establishment of Jetstar Asia as its founding CEO. Other previous management experience at both COO and CEO level, the latter at Citilink, Garuda Indonesia’s low cost airline and at Viva Macau Airlines. Prior to joining Heidrick &Struggles working as a Senior Partner in a consulting firm, Flight Ideas Consulting, doing Board and Senior Management level advisory on best practice, growth, improvement and funding strategies for airlines, as well as being taking on management responsibility in implementing these strategies. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Michael Burke Assistant Director, Commercial Hong Kong Airlines Michael Burke is directing strategy across the Commercial division with responsibility for delivering several key initiatives, with day to day accountability for the airline’s network planning, alliance & partnerships and revenue management functions. Prior to this he was directing the company’s sales & marketing strategy, helping to deliver revenue in excess of HK$6b (c.$800m USD) by implementing and driving several key initiatives in a short-time frame: improving both volumes and yield, improving planning across the business, building the brand and reducing distribution costs. Previously he built, led and managed strong, high performance teams internationally
in the UK, US, India and China over a 16 year career with Virgin Atlantic, with
a focus on execution: operational excellence, quality of service delivery and
employee engagement.He developed new
and profitable revenue streamsby successfully
managing all key relationships with partners and suppliers, overcoming any
cross-cultural boundaries in the process.
The high-profile nature of representing the Virgin brand in the two key
emerging markets of India and China afforded him a wide exposure to many top-level
CEO’s and visiting dignitaries such as Government Ministers & Trade Delegations
and during his time in Shanghai he served as both the Chairperson of the
European Chamber of Commerce’s Aviation Working Group as well as being an
Executive Committee member of the British Chamber of Commerce.
He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Transport from the University of
Plymouth, UK in 1995 and has recently attended Harvard Business School’s Global
Strategic Management program due to his acute interest in geopolitical
matters and business’s place within them.
He also has a growing command of both spoken and written Putonghua.
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| Mr Andrew Cowen CEO Hong Kong Express Andrew Cowen is Deputy Chief Executive Officer for HK Express, Hong Kong’s one-and-only low-fare airline. Andrew provides strategic direction for the airline, leading and growing the team through the transition from full service carrier to a low-cost carrier (LCC).With a targeted fleet number of 30 by end of 2018, Andrew is applying his skills and experience gained at 7 LCCs across the world to guide HKExpress’ LCC transformation and rapid growth. Andrew has close to 25 years’ experience in the aviation industry, including management roles at low-cost carriers in the UK, Middle East, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Japan. Prior to his appointment at HK Express, Andrew guided the establishment of Japanese LCC Peach, an Osaka-based JV between Japanese and Hong Kong interests. Between 2005 and 2009 he was CEO of Saudi Arabian airline Sama Airlines, guiding the start-up through initial concept development to funding, licence acquisition and launch. In 2009 Andrew acted as the CEO of Jazeera Airlines, based in Kuwait. Andrew started his aviation career in 1989 with British
Airways. He eventually went on to manage the airline’s financial affairs for
its American business unit, before being promoted to Head of Strategy for BA’s
LCC, Go.
Andrew
graduated from City University, London in 1989 and qualified as a Chartered Management
Accountant in 1992.
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| Mr Sunil Chopra Area Manager IATA Sunil is the Area Manager for a cluster of countries Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Srilanka, Maldives & Bangladesh and is based in Singapore for International Air Transport Association (IATA) Sunil is responsible for IATA’s activities in the Cluster for supporting & serving Airline members & stakeholders needs. He is focused on improving the distribution support and improve partnerships in the Area, promoting IATA global standards with the perspective of delivering maximum value for safe, and sustainable development of aviation. Prior to moving to Singapore, Sunil was country Manger India & Nepal and has spent the last 9 years with IATA, he has had a career in Aviation of over 29 years of which he has had a opportunity to work both in the Indian domestic market with the National carrier as Head of short haul operations and startup carriers as head of Commercial activities driving sustainable revenue growth & developing distribution and subsequently with British Airways World cargo as Head of operations in South Asia managing the Service strategy and the Route & market development between South Asia & Europe & USA strengthening the growth of Freighter operations in the South Asia market for BAWC.
Sunil graduated from Pune University with a Bachelor in Commerce & has obtained a MBA in marketing from Pune University too. Has done a programme on ‘Airport and Airline Systems – Planning, Design & Management’ from MIT Boston. He is fond of outdoor activities, & plays competive Squash & badminton, & Golf.
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| Mr Dennis Cary Global Managing Director, Airline Advisory Practice ICF International Dennis Cary is Global Managing Director of the Airline Advisory Practice at ICF International. Over a career of 20+ years in the airline industry, Dennis has experience in virtually all commercial disciplines, including corporate strategy, market planning, pricing, revenue management, sales, e-commerce, loyalty, network and fleet planning, product development and advertising. For the past two years he has been a key leader of major transformation efforts at three airlines, including twice serving as the client’s interim Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to his consulting career, Dennis served as Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at United Airlines, where he redefined United's customer strategy and created the company's first Customer Experience organization. He also led the re-launch of the united.com website, introduced their industry-leading flatbed Business Class seats, and launched the Travel Options by United suite of ancillary services which now generates over $1B in annual revenue. In recognition of his industry leadership, Business Travel News named him one of the Top 25 Most Influential Travel Executives.
Prior to his role as Senior Vice President at United, Dennis served as United's Vice President, Revenue Management, and for 13 years prior to that he served in various commercial roles at American Airlines including President of AAdvantage and Managing Director, Sales & Marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa based in London.
Dennis holds an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BS summa cum laude in Computer Science from California State University, Northridge.
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| Mr Hugh O'Donovan Head of Commercial Aviation Ince and Co LLP Hugh is a barrister and Head of Commercial Aviation at law firm Ince & Co. He is one of the UK’s most experienced and highly respected aviation lawyers, particularly recognised for his expertise in international air transport regulation. For nearly thirty years he has had extensive experience of advising airlines, airports, investors, regulators, and governments on regulatory, commercial and competition law issues affecting aviation. He was involved through all stages of air transport liberalisation in the EU and continues to advise on developments in the European single aviation market as the EU expands and spreads its influence. Hugh was the original “legal architect” of the successful European low cost carrier, easyJet. Since then, in legal practice he has observed the rise of LCCs and how full service airlines have been meeting the challenge and adapting to the evolving competitive environment. As well as advising airlines Hugh has advised governments and regulators as far afield as Africa and Asia on implementing changes in civil aviation policy and regulation, including ASEAN open skies. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Ken Choi CEO Jeju Air Mr. Choi, was appointed as the CEO of Jeju Air in 2012. Based in Seoul, South Korea, he has broad international business experience and perspective from his cross-border investment and consulting career. Prior to Jeju Air, Mr. Choi demonstrated successful investment track record at global financial institutions and venture capital companies including Citigroup, Sit/Kim International and East Gate Capital Management. Mr. Choi also brings a strong government connection, having served as the President of the Korea Game Industry Agency, governing and promoting the digital media industry in Korea. It was the Vice Minister level position under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Korea.
Mr. Choi is a CFA, and earned Master’s degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University and a B.S. in Engineering from Seoul National University. He currently serves as a board member of Blackstone Private Equity Korea, and a few tech companies in the US and Asia including Intematix and Time Voyager.
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| Mr Barathan Pasupathi Chief Executive Officer Jetstar Asia Barathan Pasupathi (Bara), CEO Jetstar Asia and Valuair is also a Director on the Board of Jetstar Asia, Valuair and Newstar. Bara has more than 20 years’ experience in senior roles across the aviation and energy sectors and was a founding executive of Jetstar Asia, serving as its Chief Financial Officer from 2004 to 2007. His key achievements at Jetstar include helping to establish the airline in 2004, seeing through its merger with Valuair, fleet procurement and fuel hedging. Jetstar Asia has since become the largest and most profitable low fares airline in Singapore. Having held several leadership positions in Singapore, Europe and the Middle East, Bara has extensive exposure in oil market risk management, aircraft finance and leasing, and supply chain management.
Bara expanded his aviation and finance experience as Chief Financial Officer for Middle East-based Jazeera Airways, during which the airline was successfully listed on the Kuwati Stock Exchange. He also played a key role in the establishment of Sahaab Aircraft leasing in Kuwait.
Prior to being appointed CEO of Jetstar Asia, Bara was the Managing Director of Mabanaft Singapore Pte Ltd, a leading independent German oil trading group based in Singapore.
Bara is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce as well as a Masters in Business Administration. In 2013, Bara was recognised as Distinguished Alumni of Murdoch University WA. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Torbjorn Karlsson Senior Client Partner Korn Ferry Torbjorn
Karlsson is a Senior Client Partner in Korn Ferry Singapore office/Asia Pacific
Headquarters where
he is a member of the Firm’s Global Industrial Market.
He
specializes in international C-Suite and board searches within
the industrial sector, particularly in the Diversified Manufacturing,
Automotive,Aerospace And AviationPractices and within the Marketing & Sales Centre of
Excellence.
For
the last 25 years, he has lived and
worked across multiple locations in Asia Pacific and
brings a proven track recordin
assembling high-performing teams, both as an executive recruiter and as a
senior leader. His broad experience in the region spans consulting, sales and
marketing, infrastructure projects as well as procurement. With hands-on
experience from developing new markets and business opportunities
- in both
established and emerging markets - he brings an in-depth understanding on how
to assist companies in strengthening their commercial activities while building
a solid operational foundation for a high-growth environment.
Mr.
Karlsson
has built leadership teams in some of Asia-Pacific's top multinational
companies, as well as privately held and private equity-owned operating
companies. His placements include CEOs, presidents, general managers as well as
talent in sales and marketing, finance, operations, services, research and
development, procurement and supply chain management.He has also placed senior executives - across
Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East/Gulf States - in start-up LCCs, full
service Airlines, Regional/Commuter operators as well as at MROs, OEMs and
industry service providers.
Prior
to joining Korn Ferry, Mr.
KarlssonwasVice President ofSales, APAC for
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.Earlier, he was the Asia Pacific Managing
Partner of the Industrial Practice for another global search firm. Prior to his search career,
Mr. Karlsson was
based in Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore in various leadership
positions at Saab Aircraft, Rockwell Collins, Cathay Pacific Airways and
Honeywell Aerospace.
Mr.
Karlsson
studied mechanical engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology in
Stockholm, Sweden and also earned an MBA.He is a
certified Six Sigma Black Belt. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr John Thomas Managing Director L.E.K. Consulting John Thomas is a Managing Director and Partner, and a member of the Global Leadership Team at L.E.K. Consulting. John also heads L.E.K.’s global Aviation & Travel practice and is also active in our Private Equity practice. John has more than 24 years of experience in strategy, financial, commercial, operational and organizational consulting to the aviation industry. He has worked with most of the leading airlines around the world (both legacy and LCC) on a broad range of major issues. For example, he has been instrumental in the adaptation of merchandising (ancillary revenue) to the airline industry and has advised on many of the major merger and acquisition deals in the industry. He has also worked with OEMs, CNS/ATMs, airports, tour operators, travel destinations, cruise lines, hotels, resorts, loyalty programs, and caterers, and has extensive experience in the GA and Corporate Aviation industries. He has worked with clients in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region. Before joining L.E.K., John was a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. Prior to his consulting career, he had seven years of industry experience in accounting, marketing, and management roles. John received a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Financial Management from the University of New South Wales. He was also awarded a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD, where he was on the Dean's List. John is a commercial instrument rated pilot. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Stanley Hui Hon-Chung Consultant Luk Fook Financial Mr Stanley Hui Hon-Chung was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong on 1 February 2007. Mr Hui’s career began in 1975 with Cathay Pacific Airways, where he held a wide range of management positions both in Hong Kong and overseas. For more than nine years from 1997, Mr Hui was the CEO of Dragonair. Under his leadership, Dragonair grew rapidly from having 10 to 38 aircraft and tripled its revenue by 2005. The airline also launched all-cargo operation in 2000. From 1994 to 1997, he was Chief Operating Officer of the all-cargo airline AHK Air Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was the Chief Representative of John Swire & Sons (China), based in Beijing. Between 1990 and 1992, Mr Hui was General Manager, Planning and International Affairs, at Dragonair. Mr Hui was closely involved with the development of air services between Hong Kong and Mainland China from 1980s, an experience that carries through to his capacity as the CEO of Dragonair and now as the CEO of Airport Authority Hong Kong. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr George Weinmann CEO Mega Global Air Services (Maldives) George began his career at the Boeing Company as an engineer prior to joining Boeing’s strategic assessment group responsible for business case and merger and acquisition projects where he helped set-up and manage Boeing Ventures, a $200 million internal business incubator. After Boeing, George set up Jet Yi Holdings and was involved in a variety of China related aviation business and consulting projects.
George earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA with high distinction from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. George is a private pilot and speaks conversational Mandarin. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Martin Warner Principal MW Travel Consultancy Limited Martin Warner is Principal in MW Travel Consultancy Limited; a UK based global consultancy and strategic advisor to the travel industry. He is also a Founder Partner and Chief Innovation Officer at Travel Innovation Partners (Mar 2013-‐present), London, UK. Travel Innovation Partners is a General Sales & Services Agency that serves the software and services needs of the travel and airline industries. Prior to this Mr. Warner was Executive Vice President, Market Strategy & Segmentation at Carlson Wagonlit Travel (Aug 2011 -‐ Dec 2012). Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is a global leader specializing in business travel management. As the Executive VP, Mr. Warner was responsible for devising and implementing the Marketing Strategy of all the arms of the business including Corporate Travel, which was focused on creating value based travel management solutions for corporate customers. In the period 2008 to 2011, Mr. Warner was
Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific at Carlson Wagonlit Travel (Jan
2008-‐Aug 2011). Here he was responsible for all the Asia Pacific Operations
of the business. Mr. Warner served as a member of CWT's Executive Team for 10
years, reporting to the President / CEO. He also served in non-‐Executive
board positions in the companies Jt-‐ Ventures in China, Japan, India,
Indonesia & South Africa, as well as Executive board member of subsidiaries
in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Before 2008 (from 2003) he served as EVP of
Global Account Solutions at CWT responsible for the companies top 100
multinational client business, a US$4Bn top line business unit serving many
Fortune 500 members.
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| Dr Alan Khee-Jin Tan Professor of Aviation Law National University of Singapore (NUS) Dr Alan Tan is Professor of Aviation Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Law School. Born in Penang, Malaysia and educated at the NUS and Yale Law Schools, Alan teaches aviation law, shipping law and environmental law. He has been a Justices’ Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of Singapore and heads the Air Law & Policy programme at the NUS Centre for International Law. He is an instructor at the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) and course trainer for the IATA Training and Development Institute. In 2009, Alan was appointed a Hauser Global Visiting Professor at the New York University (NYU) School of Law, where he taught a course on Global Aviation Law and Policy. He has also been a frequent speaker at the annual IATA Legal Symposium. Alan’s research interests lie in the liberalization of the aviation industry in Asia. He has been a consultant to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on aviation liberalization in Asia. He has been a consultant with CAPA Consulting on a landmark study for the ASEAN Secretariat on the prospects for a single aviation market in Southeast Asia (“Developing ASEAN’s Single Aviation Market and Regional Air Services Agreements with Dialogue Partners”). He has also served as consultant to the ASEAN Air Carriers Association on the interpretation of fifth and seventh freedom rights in the ASEAN multilateral agreements for air transport liberalization. On the governmental side, Alan has worked with and presented at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (on the Damascus Agreement) and the Indonesian Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (on “open skies” in Indonesia). He has also spoken at various industry seminars, including for IATA and Embraer. Alan has published extensively on aviation issues in leading journals such as the Annals of Air and Space Law (Canada), the Journal of Air Law & Commerce (U.S.A.), the Journal of Air Transport Management (Netherlands) and Air & Space Law (Netherlands). In 2006, his article “Liberalizing Aviation in the Asia-Pacific Region: The Impact of the E.U. Horizontal Mandate” was published in the Air and Space Law journal and won the Diederiks-Verschoor Prize for Best Publication in Air and Space Law, awarded by Kluwer Law International. Alan has also authored opinion pieces on Asian aviation in industry publications such as CAPA’s Airline Leader, Airline Business and in broadsheets such as the Straits Times. He is currently working on antitrust issues relating to airline alliances and joint ventures in Asia, particularly in Singapore and China. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr John Aitken Head of Asia Pacific Product Navitaire John leads Navitaire’s regional product team, supporting the company’s product direction tailored to the Asia-Pacific market. John brings more than 15 years of experience working with Navitaire products as well as with or for Navitaire clients. Over this period, he has experienced the transformation of a number of LCC airlines and witnessed how Navitaire PSS solutions that have helped spur and support their growth and development. Many of these clients have become market leaders in the region and the world. ' In his role at Navitaire, John works with clients across Asia Pacific. Using this insight and experience, he has helped shape the Navitaire reservations platform to support advanced capabilities to power the diverse landscape of business models, including new entrants, high-growth hybrids, plus new subsidiary and joint venture carriers.
John holds a degree in Law from the University of Canterbury and an MBA from Auckland University.
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| Mr Patee Sarasin CEO NOK Air Patee Sarasin is the Chief Executive Officer of Nok Air, the truly Thai low fare airline. Patee received his secondary education in England at Kings School, Canterbury, and then spent his college years in the U.S.A., receiving a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration and Computer Science from Clark University, in Massachusetts, and a Masters Degree in Mass Communication Film and Video from American University in Washington, D.C. Patee launched his career with advertising agency Lintas in 1983, as a Research Manager, and then took a 2 year break to complete his masters degree, followed by 2 years with NBC, the U.S. television network, on both the creative and production side. Returning to Thailand in 1989, he joined SPA Advertising as Creative Liaison officer and a member of the Management Committee, and in 1991 became General Manager of Multi Media Orbit, a production house of SPA. In 1992 Patee was
appointed Managing Director and later CEO of Bates Advertising Thailand, a
joint venture between SPA and Bates Worldwide.Under Patee’s management, Bates Thailand became the fastest growing
advertising agency in Thailand, and included the famed creation of DTAC and its
launch into the market.
In early 2004 Patee left
Bates to join the new airline that was to become Nok Air as Chief Executive
Officer, and has been a driving force behind the success of the airline,
utilizing his marketing background and experiences and effectively applying
them to Nok Air.Under Patee’s
leadership Nok Air has seen continuous growth in terms of revenue, passenger
numbers and destinations, as it reaches from its base in Thailand across Asia.
Today Nok Air has already recovered the initial investment just after only two
years of operation, and she continuously is growing towards a strong,
profitable and a healthy company.
As his aviation career
takes off, he continues to be invited to speak at various international
aviation symposiums around the world including those in Hong Kong, Singapore,
London, Sydney, New York and Houston.
Patee is
currently an advisor to Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand.He is also an active and consultant to the
Thailand Squash Team.
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| Mr David Huttner SVP Nyras David joined Virgin Express in Brussels in 1996 as an MBA intern (gaining his degree at INSEAD in France) and rose through various positions to become Deputy Director of Sales & Marketing. In 2000, he was appointed Head of Commercial for Virgin Blue, becoming one of the three founding officers of the Virgin Group’s new Australian venture. He went on to lead strategy and communications and, subsequently, international development for the carrier. David has undertaken business consultancy projects for a range of major aviation industry clients, including Navitaire, Macquarie Airports, Jersey Airports, Air Arabia, Air Baltic, Estonian Airways, Virgin Group, IFC (World Bank Group) and Oman Airports and has served on the Board of Directors for Barcelona based Vueling, one of Europe’s leading LCCs. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Shinichi Inoue Representative Director and CEO Peach Aviation Limitied Prior to joining Peach Aviation, Inoue spent eight years at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. before joining All Nippon Airways Co.,Ltd. in September 1990. From 1990 to 2010, he held various positions as manager in personnel, sales and marketing sectors, and then joined the Beijing office as a director of administration. In 2008, Inoue became the director of corporate affairs for Asia, and in 2010, took on the role of director for the LCC joint venture project team. Inoue was named CEO of A&F Aviation in February 2011, where was renamed Peach Aviation in May 2011. Inoue was born in May 26th, 1958and graduated from Waseda University after studying law. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Michael T Molloy Global Principal Rio Tinto As Global Principal, Mike overseas all aspects of the procurement and service delivery of the Travel & Expense Category on a global basis for leading resources company, Rio Tinto. Reporting to the Global Category Lead and ACTE President, Kurt Knackstedt, Mike assists to coordinate the strategy for the category with more than a half billion dollars in annual spend. The category remit includes the airline, accommodation and vehicle areas including charter aircraft and specialized vehicle rentals as well as purchasing cards, travel agency operations and technology offerings. Prior to joining Rio Tinto in 2013, Mike spent about 15 years with the Banking and Financial Services firms Credit Suisse and Citigroup in pan-Regional roles across Asia and EMEA. He has lived and worked in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, the United States and Hungary. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Kurt Knackstedt Global Category Leader for Travel and Expense Management Rio Tinto Group In June of 2011, Kurt Knackstedt joined Rio Tinto Procurement Global Sourcing Services as the Global Category Leader for Travel and Expense Management. In this role based in Singapore, Kurt leads Rio Tinto’s global Travel and Expense strategy with key suppliers focusing on improving the overall Rio Tinto travel experience. He has 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. Kurt also was elected to the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) Board of Directors, representing the Asia region, in January of 2012. ACTE is the leading industry body for advocacy, research and education for the global corporate travel industry. Kurt’s term runs through 2014. Prior to 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 Singapore and is a dual citizen of the USA and Australia. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Stan Boyer Vice President, Solutions Marketing, SabreSonic® Customer Sales and Service Sabre Airline Solutions Stan Boyer is vice president of Solutions Marketing for the SabreSonic CSS solution, part of the Sabre Airline Solutions portfolio. The company is the world’s largest provider of Software-as-a-Service to airlines and offers the most complete portfolio, helping airlines better market, sell, serve and operate with future-ready technology. Stan is responsible for evangelizing the broadest suite of solutions available in the industry to help airlines enhance their customers’ experience and grow revenue. Under his leadership, SabreSonic brings to market forward thinking software solutions that enhance the core capabilities of our SabreSonic CSS solutions suite. His team focuses on
3-5 year strategies and communication of these strategies.Stan works with solution managers and
directors to provide vision for product enhancement and implementation.Stan works closely with our consulting,
development and delivery organizations to ensure that we continue to strive to
meet the needs of our customers.
Stan has held various
management and leadership positions for Sabre over the last 20 years. Most
recently, Stan was vice president SabreSonic CSS solution design.His team worked with our larger customers to
create unique solutions that help them get the most of their SabreSonic CSS
investment.Prior to this, Stan was the senior
director of Sabre Airline Solutions Consulting & Solutions Delivery group.
He led a team of consultants and had responsibility for the implementation of
business processes and variance closure for each SabreSonic CSS implementation.Stan has also been heavily engaged in all
SabreSonic strategic pursuits.
From
2000 through 2007, Stan was director of consulting services.In this role, he led a global team of
consultants, traveling around the world to deliver valuable business results in
the areas of sales, distribution, loyalty and customer experience.Prior to this, he worked in Sabre’s applied
research lab, and was directly responsible for maintaining relationships with
key research institutions, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Media Labs and Stanford Center for Human/Computer Interaction.
Stan
lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in
Agricultural Sciences from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He
also has a Master’s degree in Linguistics and an MBA from the University of
Texas at Arlington.
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| Mr Campbell Wilson CEO Scoot Campbell Wilson, 42, helms Scoot as its Chief Executive Officer, and also serves on the Company's Board. As CEO, he is responsible for the direction, growth and leadership of Singapore’s newest airline. Having been with the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group since April 1996, Campbell has held positions overseas and in Head Office. Immediately prior to joining Scoot in May 2011, he was Singapore Airlines’ General Manager Japan, based in Tokyo, before which he was SIA’s General Manager Hong Kong and Vice President Canada. He also spent three years in SIA’s Head Office Network Planning and Network Revenue Management departments. Campbell was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand and is a Singapore Permanent Resident. He has a Master of Commerce (1st Class Honours) in Business Administration from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Between completing university and joining SIA, Campbell travelled extensively in Europe and North America – backpacking in true low-cost fashion. Since then, he has continued to indulge his passion for travel – cycling in Italy and France, rafting the Grand Canyon, walking the Great Wall and kayaking national parks in New Zealand. When not travelling or working, he can be found running or eating in hawkers markets. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Michael Thorburn Head of Strategic Sales and Market Development Serko Michael Thorburn is Head of Strategic Sales and Market Development at Serko and is responsible for establishing and developing emerging markets. Michael has been with Serko for over 14 years and started with the company in the early days, after working for 17 years in various corporate sales roles with Airlines and Travel Management Companies. He started Serko sales in the Australian market moving to a team of one report, which has now grown to combine a large sales force of Serko employees and resellers in Australasia. Michael is also a regional council member with the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), a position he continues to hold where he is involved with mentoring corporate travel buyers and overall on-going development of the business travel sector in the APAC region. Currently he spends the majority of his time working on the Indian market and other strategic regions such as the Middle East and Asia. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Ilya Gutlin President, Asia Pacific SITA Ilya Gutlin was appointed President, Asia Pacific, in March 2012. Prior to this Ilya had been Vice President, Airport Solution Line SITA for over two years where he was the architect behind SITA’s ‘Intelligent Airport’ vision. SITA's growing portfolio of airport solutions is used by airports and airlines at more than 400 locations worldwide and covers the entire airport ecosystem. Ilya joined SITA in 1998 as a financial controller and from 2003 to 2009 successfully led the regional sales team in East and Central Europe. Born in St Petersburg, Russia, he graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in Montreal. Ilya is fluent in Russian and English and speaks French. He is based in Singapore. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Renaud Irminger Director of SITA Lab SITA Renaud Irminger is Director of SITA Lab, the company’s strategic research and development arm. He is responsible for overseeing projects and programs that explore new technology for the air transport industry—including wearable technology, iBeacons, Near Field Communications (NFC), Location Based Services, contextual mobile applications and many other initiatives. Renaud joined SITA in 2005 in the Project Management Office, as Program and Project Director responsible for Project Management Methodologies. Previously he was Director Innovation Management for Valeo, a US$15Bn automotive supplier, where he led a project to revamp innovation and product development processes. Renaud has also held various roles in new product development, sales and business development, and program and project management at ITT Industries in the USA, and in R&D at Motorola in Switzerland. Renaud holds a M.Sc from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, a M.Sc. in Applied Physics from the Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®). He has led the SITA Lab team in developing more than eight “world firsts” in technology for the air transport industry. In addition, he and the SITA Lab team have won several awards, including the 2011 CAPA Award for Innovation with Malaysia Airlines and the Smart Technology Award from Wearable Technology Show 2014 for the first Google Glass live trial in the air transport industry with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Renaud’s passion is for breaking the barriers of what is possible to do. He is based in Geneva.
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| Dr Joel Aneceto Mendoza CEO Skyjet Magnum Air President and Chief Executive Officer Aneceto Joel Mendoza is a visionary whose strength is in his ability to make things happen – especially the seemingly impossible. Joel’s affair with the aviation industry started when he fell in love with a beautiful yet secluded island in the northernmost part of the Philippines. New York-educated, his appreciation of the unsullied beauty of Batanes compelled him to venture into the island’s eco-cultural promotion. This launched him into the tourism and travel industry as he established what is today touted as the premier travel agency in Batanes. Due to the unprecedented influx of tourists in Batanes, Joel immediately transitioned into chartering flights to serve this niche market. With his innate marketing savvy and principled business acumen, Joel learned the ropes of aviation industry in no time. His uncanny knack in all things aviation-related earned him the respect of then leading industry players that he was tapped by a key commercial airline as its revenue management consultant and route developer. Like an eagle in flight, it was a point of no return for Joel. A brilliant self-taught man in the business, he immersed himself in the aviation industry till he knew it from A to Z. From independent charter servicing to leasing and subleasing aircrafts for commercial airline, he eventually ventured into whole and retail sales of aircraft parts, base maintenance, and fixedbase operation (FBO). The latter gave birth to his other largely successful aviation company, the Global Aerospace. His untainted credibility in the industry earned him the nod of the Philippine government. In 2012, Magnum Air, his company behind SKYJET Airlines, was licensed to go on commercial flight. One hundred percent Filipino-owned, accorded with rightful domestic slots, SKYJET now flies to the Philippines’ top tourist destinations. Barely a year after its commercial launch, with Joel at its helm, SKYJET is already eyeing potential expansion in the Asia Pacific region. Joel’s keen ability to see the limitless beyond one secluded island certainly ushered him to where he is today. And with his eagle-eyed vision, wisdom-tempered passion, and above-board ethics, even the sky is no limit for this aviation man on a mission. Carving a name for his country, his company, and himself in the global aviation industry is doubtless on the horizon. It’s a mission very possible. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Sanjiv Kapoor Chief Operating Officer SpiceJet Sanjiv, the Chief Operating Officer of SpiceJet (India’s second largest low cost carrier) since November 2013, has over 17 years of experience in the airline industry, having worked with airlines in Asia, Europe, and the US as a part of management, as a management consultant, and as an investment advisor in the aviation space. Sanjiv started his airline career with Northwest Airlines in the USA in 1996, where he worked in finance, planning, procurement, and operations. Sanjiv thereafter joined Bain and Company, the leading strategy consulting firm, as a leader in their airline practice, working with clients such as Malaysia Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Aeroflot, KLM, IAG (parent of British Airways and Iberia), and American Airlines on projects ranging from strategy and turnaround to alliances, network planning and revenue enhancement, procurement, post-merger integration and customer experience transformation. In 2011-12, as a Special Advisor to the Board and Acting CEO, Sanjiv drove a
transformational operational turnaround for GMG Airlines and led the development of a
new business plan that GMG’s Board plan to implement when they re-start the airline with
new funding (the airline executed a planned and controlled suspension of operations to
swap out its fleet and complete the clean-up of its balance sheet).
Sanjiv’s previous employers include Temasek Holdings of Singapore (the owners of
Singapore Airlines), and BCG (the Boston Consulting Group).
A native of Kolkata where he did his schooling in La Martiniere, Sanjiv received his MBA
from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and his BA in Computer Science
from Dartmouth College, USA. Sanjiv has re-located to India from London with his wife
Upasna, daughter Joya, and son Shiv.
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| Mr Jonathan Hutt Social Marketing Director Spring Airlines With over 20 years marketing and communication experience in the North-Asia region, Jonathan Hutt currently serves as Deputy General Manager (Strategy) and Social Marketing Director at Spring Airlines, China’s first Low Cost Carrier. Since joining Spring in 2010, Jonathan has devised and lead the company’s international expansion strategy resulting in the airline’s successful entry into the Japanese, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South East Asian markets. Furthermore, he was instrumental in creating a new Social Marketing Center. Combining the company’s Communications, Branding and Social Media teams, this Center focuses on creating new sales and distribution channels that within eighteen months have become responsible for over 5% of company revenues. Prior to joining Spring, Jonathan worked as a consultant providing business development and market entry strategies, product positioning reports, market segmentation and consumer behavior analysis for a number of international brands including Harley Davidson, Tesco, LVMH and Coca-Cola Amatil.
Jonathan holds a PhD in East Asian Studies frm the Australian National University. He is also serves on the Board of Directors at GV Art, a London gallery whose exhibitions seek to foster discourse and collaboration between the international artistic and scientific communities.
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| Mr Edward Clayton Managing Partner, Malaysia Strategyand Edward Clayton is Managing Partner, Malaysia of Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company), a global strategy consultancy which is part of the PwC Network. He joined the firm’s Düsseldorf office in mid-2005 after gaining international business experience at both British Airways (1988-2000) and HOCHTIEF AirPort (now AviAlliance), a German airport investor (2000-2005). Edward relocated to Kuala Lumpur in 2007 and re-launched Strategy&’s SEA presence. Edward has worked on numerous projects for aviation clients in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, including airlines, airports, civil aviation authorities, government agencies, investors, regulatory bodies and trade associations. He has also advised governments on economic development, innovation, agency transformation and sector development, particularly focused on hard and soft infrastructure. Having lived through and benefited from the integration of the European Union countries during the early part of his career, Edward is fascinated to observe the increasing integration of the SE Asian economies at present, and to note the ways in which this will drive the aviation industry through the opening up of both new opportunities and new challenges. He has an MBA from London Business School and a BSc from the University of Kent. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Yue Kwan CEO Tigerair Taiwan Began aviation career as a pilot with the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Flew multi-engine turboprop and jet aircraft. Was Chairman of the Flying Control Committee of Asian Aerospace 2002. Prior to current position, was Head of Operations at Jetstar Asia and Viva Macau. Was COO of Jetstar Pacific in Vietnam. Led the team at Tigerair Taiwan to achieve its AOC in September 2014, making it the first LCC in Taiwan. Tigerair Taiwan is also a new airline in Taiwan after 23 years. It is a Joint Venture between China Airlines and Tiger Airways Holdings. Tigerair Taiwan inaugural flight was on 26 September 2014, targeting to grow to 12 aircraft within 3 years. Holds an MBA in Aviation Management from RMIT University, Melbourne. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr John O'Sullivan Managing Director Tourism Australia John O’Sullivan was announced as the new Managing Director of Tourism Australia on 28 January 2014, commencing in the role on 31 March 2014. Mr O’Sullivan joins Tourism Australia from Fox Sports where he was employed as Chief Operating Officer. Previously he held executive positions with Events Queensland (Chief Executive from 2010 to 2012), and Football Federation Australia (Chief Commercial Officer from 2004 to 2010) as well as the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee and the 1995 Rugby World Cup. As the Managing Director of the nation’s global tourism marketing agency, he is responsible for driving Tourism Australia’s strategies to grow demand internationally for Australia’s tourism experiences – helping to grow the sector to between $115 and $140 billion annually by the end of the decade as part of the Tourism 2020 plan. Tourism Australia promotes the country under the banner There’s nothing like Australia using a full media mix including the innovative use of digital and social media. The organisation does this in partnership with airlines, distribution businesses and the Australian industry. Tourism Australia also works with Austrade on the attraction of investment in Australian tourism infrastructure. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr John Duffy Chief Operating Officer Transportation Partners John Duffy is Chief Operating Officer at Transportation Partners. Since 1988, he has held aviation positions in London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dublin with leading companies such as NatWest, Sumitomo, HSH Nordbank and AWAS. He is a graduate of the University of Liverpool, and is also a long-suffering supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. TRANSPORTATION PARTNERS
Transportation Partners (TP) was
established in Singapore in 2011, licensed under the Aircraft Leasing Scheme
(ALS) initiated by the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB).
In addition to generic operating
lease solutions, the company is also engaged in a number of ancillary services,
ranging from sale and leasebacks, financing, advisory services, spare parts and
components management, pilot training and selective MRO services.
TP is a sister company of the
Lion Air group, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, carrying 110,000
passengers per day on over 700 flights. The airline is the largest private
airline in Indonesia, with an approximate market share of 50% in the domestic
market.
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| Mr Ian Heywood Head of Global Supplier Strategy Travelport Ian’s key focus is to ensure that Travelport offers a consistent global approach to airlines worldwide that enables them to maximise their yields and increase revenue streams through the GDS channel. To further strengthen airline relationships and help enhance long term, mutually beneficial partnerships that enable airline customers to distribute their flights and merchandising content in a way that works for their key businesses and other key industry stakeholders. A key part of Ian’s work been the launch
of the Travelport Merchandising Platform with ‘Aggregated Shopping’ ‘Ancillary
Services’ and ‘Rich Content’ which enables airlines to adapt their business
models to whatever 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.
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| Mr Damian Hickey Vice President Global Distribution & Sales Travelport Damian Hickey joined Travelport in October 2012 as the Vice President of Distribution Sales and Services for the Asia Pacific region. Based in Singapore, Damian has overall responsibility for travel content provider relationships in the region such as airlines and rail companies, which use Travelport’s capabilities to distribute their products and services. With over 20
years of management experience, Damian possesses in-depth knowledge of the travel
and transport industries in America, Europe and Asia, and is a well-respected
thought leader and a recognised contributor to the industry’s future direction.
Prior to joining Travelport, Damian held the position of Regional Vice
President – South Asia & India for SITA where he was accountable for SITA’s
airlines, airport, government and air transport industry customers. Amongst his
many achievements during this time, Damian successfully grew annual revenues
and secured SITA’s largest ever Passenger Services Systems (PSS) deal. Prior to
SITA, Damian held senior-level management positions with Amadeus and Datalex.
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| Mr Andrew Wong Regional Director TripAdvisor Based in Singapore, Andrew Wong is Regional Director, Flights at TripAdvisor. Responsible for the APAC region, Andrew works with airlines, low-cost carriers and online travel agencies to provide the widest range of travel options, prices and itineraries to TripAdvisor’s Flight users. Andrew joined TripAdvisor seven years ago and was one of the first international employees of the company. Andrew
was previously based in London where he expanded TripAdvisor’s flight business
to Europe, Brazil and Russia. Andrew also worked on TripAdvisor’s core hotel
side of the business, engaging with tour operators, online travel agencies and
hoteliers across Europe. Before TripAdvisor, Andrew worked for Travelport in
London where he secured full content agreements with airlines and expanded
distributor operations in Africa and Eastern Europe. Prior to this, Andrew
worked for a short-lived Canadian low-cost carrier. Andrew is from Toronto,
Canada and holds a Masters degree in Air Transport from Cranfield University,
United Kingdom.
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| Mr Mike Brown Regional General Manager Uber Technologies, Inc. Mike Brown is Regional General Manager of Uber Technologies, Inc. Prior to Uber, Mike ran Corporate Development at Twitter. Mike started his operating career as an early employee at Facebook. Mike Graduated from Yale College and he earned an MBA at Stanford Business School. | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Hiroshi Kitahara Senior Vice President Vanilla Air
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| Mr Chu Viet Cuong Member of Board of Director VietJet Air The member of Board of Managment, Mr. Chu Viet Cuong is a senior expert in the banking and finance field. His domestic experience is strengthened by two years of working abroad at the Southeast Asian Strategy Institute in Singapore, which was established by the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Mr. Cuong also held multiple key positions at large corporations: he worked at Marubeni (a leading Japanese corporation), was the director of ANZ Bank Vietnam, and was the general director of the joint-venture GPS between BNP Paribas Bank and Prévoir Vietnam. Most recently, Mr. Cuong was a member of Prudential Vietnam's management board | |||||||||||||||||
| Mr Dean Wicks Chief Flights Officer WEGO With over 20 years in travel, over half of which have had an online travel and distribution focus in the Asia Pacific and Middle East Regions, Dean joined Wego in 2011 as General Manager of Australia and New Zealand. His role expanded soon after when he was appointed as Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Airline Relations and relocated from Sydney to Wego's headquarters in Singapore. As Chief Marketing Officer, Dean managed marketing and business development across Wego's growing markets in SEA, India and the Middle East, focussing on SEO and cross channel promotions, PR, digital advertising, B2B and B2C solutions, brand performance, contract negotiations, supplier relations and distribution agreements. His long history, understanding and great relationships with the aviation industry was effective in building Wego's solid global airline partnerships and expanding the company's rapidly growing airline inventory. In acknowledgement he was appointed to the role of Chief Flights Officer in mid 2013 and continues to build new partnerships, develop the strategy for new flight products and markets for the company and widen their considerable market reach.
Prior to Wego Dean held the role of Head of Marketing and Air Product for ZUJI/Travelocity in Australia and New Zealand and was instrumental in the growth of one of Australia's leading online travel agencies.
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| Mr Keith Yates Chairman and CEO YATES and Partners Thailand Some thirty years of extraordinary involvement in service and product development for aviation have given Keith a unique insight to the competitive strength and yield improvement possible through building superior guest experiences. As the leading partner Keith has overseen extensive projects with Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, ANA Japan, Etihad and Garuda. These were long-term initiatives focused on brand strategy, product build and service enhancement. Hospitality has also been a significant connection to Keith’s professional life. Recent projects have included the 225 million pound rebirthing and refurbishment of the Savoy, London, the elevation of the guest experience at Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai shortly after the terrorist incident in 2011 and the building of the future guest experience model for Kempinski hotels globally. | |||||||||||||||||
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