NAN-H-45
IATA
By Adekunle Williams and Solomon Asowata
Lagos, Nov. 22, 2016 (NAN) The International Air Transport Association (IATA), has announced the appointment of Mr Muhammad Albakri as its Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East (AME).
IATA made the announcement in a statement by its Director General, Mr Alexandre de Juniac, in Lagos on Tuesday.
Juniac said Albakri succeeded Mr Hussein Dabbas, who led IATA in the region from 2012 until June, 2016.
According to Juniac, the appointment is effective on Jan.1, 2017 and will be based in the IATA regional office in Amman, Jordan.
“Albakri is stepping into a critical role at IATA. Africa and the Middle East are among the fastest growing markets for air transport.
“While the region has tremendous potential, it also faces some big challenges. Infrastructure, regulation and taxation must align to support the social and economic benefits of a successful aviation sector.
“I am confident that Albakri’s solid aviation background will deliver great value to our members and aviation in general across AME,” he said.
Albakri, a Saudi national and aviation veteran, had served as Executive Vice President for Strategic Projects and Transformation at Saudi Arabian Airlines.
“In that role, he was charged with delivering various initiatives as part of a broad transformation strategy devised to strengthen the competitiveness of the airline as it aims to double its size by 2020.
“Under Albakri’s leadership, Saudia successfully moved its second largest domestic hub operation into the new Terminal 5 at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport in May of this year.
“He is also leading similar relocations of the airline’s operations to new facilities in Jeddah and Cairo.’’
The statement quoted Albakri as saying that he was tremendously excited to take-up the challenging role.
“IATA has made critical contributions to the development of aviation around the world. That work is especially evident in Africa and the Middle East where the industry is rapidly changing.
“I have seen first-hand the transformational power of IATA’s global standards such as Fast Travel, e-freight and New Distribution Capability. These boost competitiveness and please customers at the same time.
“In my new role, I am excited to be responsible for the full suite of IATA’s activities and shall be a tireless advocate for aviation’s success in the AME region’’, Albakri is quoted as saying.
It said Albakri would lead IATA’s regional office for AME where a total of 124 employees are responsible for IATA’s operations across 68 countries.
The statement said this includes the operation of IATA’s settlement systems which efficiently handle some $23 billion of industry money annually across 38 countries.
According to the statement, aviation supports some nine million jobs and $130 billion of Gross Domestic Product across Africa and the Middle East. (NAN)
WAC/ASO/IKU/IEA
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Edited by Tayo Ikujuni/Idahosa Asowata