Akbar Al Baker takes over as IATA Board chairman
Akbar Al Baker, Group chief executive, Qatar Airways, is the new chairman of the industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors (BoG) for a one-year term effective from the conclusion of the 74th IATA Annual General Meeting in Sydney, Australia.
June 5, 2018: Akbar Al Baker, Group chief executive, Qatar Airways, is the new chairman of the industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors (BoG) for a one-year term effective from the conclusion of the 74th IATA Annual General Meeting in Sydney, Australia.
He is the 77th chair of the IATA BoG and the first CEO from Qatar Airways to hold the position. He has served on the BoG since 2012. He succeeds Goh Choon Phong, CEO of Singapore Airlines.
Akbar Al Baker said, "I look forward to continuing my work in the coming year for our great aviation industry, connecting safely the peoples of the world, a sector which will only continue to grow in the years ahead, and one in which I am most proud to work and represent one of the world leading airlines."
Al-Baker was named Qatar Airways’ Group chief executive in 1997. In this position, Al Baker has spearheaded the growth of Qatar Airways from a small regional carrier into a major global. He was president of the 70th AGM which was held in Doha in 2014.
"I am confident that Akbar will be a strong voice on behalf of the Business of Freedom in the face of growing challenges including creeping re-regulation and a movement away from open borders and toward trade protectionism and restrictions on the free movement of people. I look forward to working with him on these and other key industry issues," said said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
Carsten Spohr, chairman and CEO of Lufthansa, will serve as chairman of the BoG from June 2019, following Al Baker’s term.
The full list of the 2018-2019 IATA Board of Governors is as follows:
Calin Rovinescu, President and CEO - AIR CANADA
MarÃa José Hidalgo Gutiérrez, CEO - AIR EUROPE
Franck Terner, CEO - AIR FRANCE
Douglas Parker, Chief Executive Officer - AMERICAN AIRLINES
Harry Hohmeister, Chairman - AUSTRIAN AIRLINES
German Efromovich, Chairman - AVIANCA
Rupert Hogg, Chairman and CEO - CATHAY PACIFIC
Liu Shaoyong, Chairman - CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES
Tan Wangeng, President and CEO - CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES
Pedro Heilbron, CEO - COPA AIRLINES
Safwat Musallam, Chairman and CEO - EGYPTAIR
Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO - ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES
David Bronczek, President and CEO - FEDEX CORPORATION
Christine Ourmières-Widener, CEO - FLYBE
Luis Gallego Martin, CEO - IBERIA
Yuji Akasaka, President - JAPAN AIRLINES
Naresh Goyal, Chairman - JET AIRWAYS (INDIA) LTD.
Robin Hayes, CEO - JETBLUE AIRWAYS
Sebastian Mikosz, Managing Director and CEO - KENYA AIRWAYS
Pieter Elbers, President and CEO - KLM
Yang Ho Cho, Chairman and CEO - KOREAN AIR
Enrique Cueto, CEO - LATAM
Carsten Spohr, Chairman and CEO - LUFTHANSA
Mohamad El-Hout, Chairman/Director General - MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES
Alan Joyce, CEO - QANTAS
Akbar Al Baker, CEO - QATAR AIRWAYS
Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO - SAS
Saleh Nasser Al Jasser, Director General - SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES
Goh Choon Phong, CEO - SINGAPORE AIRLINES
Oscar Munoz, CEO - UNITED AIRLINES
Pham Ngoc Minh, Chairman - VIETNAM AIRLINES
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