Dubai’s Emirates announces new appointments in top management

Dubai airline Emirates has announced new executive leadership appointments for its operational, commercial and international affairs functions.

Adel Al Redha has been appointed chief operating officer (COO) while Adnan Kazim has been named chief commercial officer (CCO).

Kazim was named as the acting CCO in May after former executive Thierry Antinori resigned.

Read: Emirates chief commercial officer Thierry Antinori resigns

The airline also announced that Sheikh Majid Al Mualla has been appointed as the divisional senior vice president for International Affairs.

Adel Al Redha, who has been with Emirates for 31 years, will oversee all operational departments: flight operations, service delivery, airport services, Emirates engineering, crew manpower, aircraft procurement and the Emirates flight training academy; as well as worldwide network operations including crisis response.

In his role as CCO, Adnan Kazim is responsible for worldwide commercial operations, e-commerce, the Emirates Skywards loyalty programme and Emirates SkyCargo.

Kazim, who joined Emirates in 1992 as a management trainee, will also continue to lead the airline’s strategic planning and revenue optimisation teams.

Sheikh Majid will drive the airline’s government, industry, public policy, regulatory, environment and international affairs agenda. He will also lead teams that represent Emirates in government negotiations and air services talks, as well as various aviation industry bodies of which Emirates is a member.

Emirates Group chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said: “Adel, Adnan and Sheikh Majid are all experienced members of the Emirates leadership team with strong expertise in their respective areas and proven leadership abilities.

“These roles are strategically important to growing our customer base and developing our commercial strategies, delivering the best experiences across customer touchpoints, and progressing our business objectives through engaging with governments, regulators and key industry bodies around the world.”

Dubai-based Emirates airline has been hit hard by higher oil prices and strong currency volatility and earlier this year reported a 69 per cent drop in full-year profit for the fiscal year 2018-2019.

The airline made a net profit of Dhs871m ($237m) in the year to March 31, compared with Dhs2.8bn in the previous year. Revenues during the 2018-2019 fiscal year increased by 6 per cent to Dhs97.9bn ($26.7bn).

Read more: Emirates reports 69% profit drop as high oil prices, strong dollar hit earnings