Air France-KLM appoints new regional commercial director for Middle East

In his new role, Lahkim Bennani will be responsible for the regional team covering pricing, marketing and business intelligence, e-commerce and distribution for the Middle East including the company's online and offline markets.

Lahkim Bennani has taken over the role from his predecessor, Sylvain Mathias, who has moved to a new position within the group. Lahkim Bennani is based at the company’s regional headquarters in Dubai Airport Free Zone, United Arab Emirates and reports directly to the Air France-KLM general manager Middle East, Simon Scholte.

In his career with Air France KLM, he has held a series of senior executive positions across a range of business areas from sales to business development, yield management and pricing responsibilities. He has held key roles at the Paris group headquarters and in international locations, including India, Nigeria, Switzerland and The Netherlands.  He was selected as a finalist in the Air France ‘Boostez Le Futur’ program 2019 for an Intrapreneurial project platform.

Simon Scholte, general manager Middle East, Air France-KLM, said: ‘With a distinguished 17-year career with Air France-KLM, Hichame brings extensive international experience and broad expertise to his new role. He has an outstanding track record in leading diverse teams, innovative thinking and strategies to deliver consistently impressive results. He will add significant value to our regional team and our ability to provide exceptional service and drive growth within the Middle East region.”