Emirates announces two new senior management appointments

Orhan Abbas has been appointed senior vice president, commercial operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa; and Adil Al Ghaith is now vice president, commercial operations for Northern and Western Africa.  

The two U.A.E nationals joined Emirates as management trainees in 1998 and 1999 respectively, and have since held various management and leadership positions both within and outside of the U.A.E. 

After Abbas  (above) completed his management training, he was appointed Country Manager of Tanzania in 2001, and just over two years later moved to manage Emirates commerical operations in Iran. From August 2005 to July 2007, he was based in South Africa, where he was responsible for the Southern Africa region, and thereafter moved to Mumbai where he spent five years as Vice President for India and Nepal. In August last year, he was promoted to Senior Vice President for the Americas region, based in Dubai.  

Abbas said: “I’m very familiar with these markets. Latin America, Central and Southern Africa are exciting and diverse regions that are enjoying good economic growth. My focus will be to leverage this growth as much as possible, further increasing our presence in these markets and making Emirates the airline of choice for travellers”. 

Abbas holds a degree in Business Administration from Regents College in Albany, New York. 

Following his management training, Al Ghaith was appointed designate sales manager for Australia, based in Melbourne for two years. From 2001 to 2007, he was the area manager for Yemen, Qatar and Egypt.  In 2007, he was promoted to vice president for Pakistan and three years later for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen. 

“I’m really looking forward to leading the Emirates team in Northern and Western Africa and expanding our customer base. There is scope for strong growth in these markets, and  together with my highly experienced and capable team, I’m confident of our success,” Al Ghaith said.

Al Ghaith (above) holds a degree in Business Administration from Seattle Pacific University, Washington State.