ASPAC appointment highlights of the month – April 2019

14 May, 2019

The travel, tourism and aviation industries in the Asia Pacific region witness policy and upper level changes on a daily basis. It is important to not only keep tabs of these organisations direction, but to also monitor changes in executive branches to see the wider picture of the travel market. The Blue Swan Daily will keep you informed of these movements each month, with a full wrap of the key changes in the Asia Pacific market, while also looking forward to key appointments announced for the last month.

Here are the key executive changes for April 2019;

  • Airbus shareholders appointed Guillaume Faury as an executive member of the board for three years. At the board meeting immediately following the AGM, Guillaume Faury was formally appointed Airbus CEO, replacing outgoing CEO Tom Enders. Airbus' board also selected René Obermann to succeed Denis Ranque as chairman when Mr Ranque's mandate expires at the close of the 2020 AGM;
  • Cathay Pacific announced the appointment of Paul Chow as group general counsel, effective 01-Jul-2019;
  • Qantas Group announced the resignation of Qantas International CEO Alison Webster, effective 24-Apr-2019. Executive manager international aircraft programs Narendra Kumar was appointed as acting Qantas International CEO;
  • Qantas appointed Group CFO Tino La Spina as CEO of Qantas International, effective 01-Oct-2019. This follows the recent resignation of previous Qantas International CEO, Alison Webster. Qantas also appointed Vanessa Hudson as CFO, effective 01-Oct-2019;
  • AsianaAirlines appointed Han Chang-soo as CEO, replacing Park Sam-koo;
  • Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) appointed Bon Hwan Koo as IIAC president and CEO, commencing 16-Apr-2019. Mr Bon previously served as South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Deputy Minister of Aviation Policy. He replaces Chung Il-young in the role;
  • Hong Kong Airlines appointed former director and current HK Express chairman Zhang Guosong as chairman;
  • Korean Air parent Hanjin Group appointed Cho Won-tae as chairman;
  • Air Premia appointed member of the board of directors Sim Jooyeop as CEO on 19-Apr-2019;
  • Central Japan International Airport Corporation, operator of Nagoya Chubu Centrair International Airport, plans to appoint Tsutomu Inuzuka as president and CEO in Jun-2019;
  • Samoa Airways chairman Fe'esago Siaosi Fepulea'i resigned from the role, effective immediately. Board member Tuia Paepae Letoa has been appointed as interim chairman of the airline, effective 29-Apr-2019;
  • Bangladesh's Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Mohibul Haque reported Biman Bangladesh Airlines MD and CEO Mosaddek Ahmed resigned his position. The airline appointed flight operations director Captain Farhat Hasan Jamil as interim MD and CEO while it undertakes the recruitment process to replace Mr Ahmed;
  • SriLankan Airlines appointed Joshua Bustos as chief commercial officer, effective 23-Apr-2019;
  • Australia Pacific Airports Corporation appointed Peter Hay as independent chair of the board, replacing David Crawford, effective 02-May-2019;
  • SriLankan Airlines appointed Shaminda Samaraweera as CFO, effective Apr-2019;
  • Hong Kong Airlines appointed Sun Jianfeng as CEO and Li Neng as CFO. President Wang Liya will step down into an advisory role.