Enhancing passenger service delivery and overall operational efficiency 14 – 15 June 2023 MÖVENPICK GRAND AL BUSTAN DUBAI, UAE Donwload Brochure Supporting Partners Market Overview The global travel industry is seeing a huge surge in the number of passengers, fueled by people’s increased hunger for travel post the removal of COVID-19-related restrictions. The surge has […]
Before joining the team at Hamad International Airport in 2018, Levina had experience in the airline industry as Cabin Crew. Later, she transitioned to airport operations with Airports Company South Africa, where she held various positions ranging from front line staff to Airport Management Centre. During her time at Hamad International Airport, Levina focused on airport customer service, with a specialization in customer service training, contact centre management, and lost property management.
Antonio is an executive with over 15 years of experience in product management, user experience, digital transformation, and customer service. As Chief Product and Customer Experience Officer of Qantas Loyalty, he oversees the entire suite of Loyalty propositions which spans travel, financial services, and retail verticals. Antonio is responsible for the product organization and the digital and contact centre channels. With a proven track record in transforming organizations into customer-centric businesses, he has served in key leadership roles at the Boston Consulting Group, Telstra, and ING Bank. Alongside his corporate career, Antonio funded a mobile SaaS startup in Australia and an e-commerce business in Brazil.
Antonio holds an MBA from IE Business School and an MS in Computer Science from Uppsala University.
Ahmet is the Customer Experience and Service Design, Deputy Manager at the mega hub airport – İGA Istanbul Airport. He has more than 10 years of experience in designing customer experiences in the aviation sector. Over the years, Ahmet have an extraordinary in-depth understanding of customer expectations and needs.
His deep-rooted passion lies in the creation of new solutions for serving the best service to humanity. Aside from technological infrastructure advantages, Ahmet strongly believes that the most important part of designing the best customer journey is the human touch.
Ahmet is enthusiastic about building and maintaining robust customer experience frameworks in companies that have a prioritized focus on customer experience management. He considers agility and strong communication competence as one of the most valuable components to designing consistent excellence in customer experience. Ahmet and his team are constantly moving forward with multi-international award-winning solutions for Istanbul Airport.
Rajesh is the Chief Customer Experience and Ground Handling Officer for Air India – worldwide. In this role, he is responsible for the complete transformation of Air India’s customer experience and airport operations worldwide. Despite the massive global landscape and several inherent challenges, Rajesh has managed to deliver exponential value within a very short period. With highly improved ‘on time performance’ of Air India, drastic change in the culture with a focus on customer centricity and customer obsession. Rajesh is building a robust governance structure, bringing in IT innovations, and incubating a winning team that will help in making Air India a world-class airline.
He also sits on the Board as Director of Air India SATS, a Joint Venture between Air India and Singapore Airlines. Rajesh is a Tata veteran and before joining Air India last year he was the Global Program Director of the Passport Seva Program at Tata Consultancy Services. He set up and managed India’s most iconic passport program since its inception for over 10 years, which led to a massive transformation of Indian passport services globally. He has spearheaded various eGovernance and large public services transformation programs in India and abroad and won many awards.
Swati Tandon Joined McKinsey & Company in September 2013 and currently working as Partner. Swati is experienced in leading large scale transformations to drive growth, and profitability across aviation and tourism value chain. Experience includes working with several Airlines, airports, support service providers, tourism authorities and civil aviation authorities
Chamith is a passionate aviation enthusiast with several years of experience in the customer experience segment from his time at Air Canda, Air Astana, LSR and Airliners & Atourz. His roots originate from an island called Sri Lanka known for its warmth, hospitality and care for their guests. Before taking on any of his professional roles, Chamith’s passion for the aviation and airline industry sprouted from seeing both his parent’s successful careers in the industry.
Similarly in his current role as a Customer Experience Manager at Air Canada, he goes well above and beyond the expectations of his role to satisfy their travellers. “We have to always fly in our customers shoes” it’s the principle that allows for better understanding the customer and what we at Air Canada follow. Customer experience has a direct impact on revenue and loyalty to a certain product/company/brand help create long term Return on Investment. Most successful organizations continue to succeed given the importance they make in customer experience; and Air Canada has always been in the forefront in doing so.
Chamith holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aviation Management from IUBH. In addition to his professional work, Chamith enjoys creating impactful processes and programs for his team to enhance customer experience in the daily airport operations.
Dr. Sheerah is a highly experienced and accomplished Chief Transformation Officer at the Saudi Arabian Airlines Holding (Saudia Group). He has been leading the group’s transformation since his appointment and is a subject matter expert in various areas such as Strategy, PMOs, Project, Program and Portfolio management, Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Privatization, emerging technologies, business models, financial modeling, and corporate governance.
Dr. Sheerah began his career in 1999 as an engineer and then transitioned into project management and strategy execution, where he has been working for more than 15 years in and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, working for companies such as Advanced Electronics Company (AEC) and Saudi Railways Company (SAR), among others.
From 2016 to 2021, Dr. Sheerah held a series of leadership positions in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 programs, including the Privatization Program and the Quality of life Program. He was the Chief Executive of Business at the Quality of Life Vision Realization Program before joining Saudia Group. He holds four academic degrees and more than 46 professional certificates, making him a highly qualified and experienced professional in his field.
In his current role at Saudia Group, Dr. Sheerah is leading the transformation of the group, which comprises Full Service Carrier airlines (Saudia Air Transport), Low Cost Carrier airlines (Flyadeel), MRO Company (SAEI), Saudia Cargo, Saudia Logistics SAL, Saudia Ground Services SGS, Prince Sultan Aviation Academy PSAA, Saudia Private Aviation SPA, Saudia Real Estate SARED, and other companies.
Michail is a highly competent, dedicated, result driven, enthusiastic professional with 23 years of corporate experience in delivering multimillion, international and state-of-the-art large scale Technological Programs which have been positively impacting the company’s operational effectiveness and corporate image as well as passenger´s experience.
He is an ICT senior consultant with a strong technical and business airport background, having worked in Aviation for ICT projects relating to operations, ORAT, master planning, construction, design, due diligence, Business Continuity Management and acquisition transformation. Michail managed or supported the Greenfield airport or airport’s terminal ICT systems openings of the following international airports: Athens, Tirana, Amman, Warsaw, Budapest and Cairo.
Antonio is an executive with over 15 years of experience in product management, user experience, digital transformation, and customer service. As Chief Product and Customer Experience Officer of Qantas Loyalty, he oversees the entire suite of Loyalty propositions which spans travel, financial services, and retail verticals. Antonio is responsible for the product organization and the digital and contact centre channels. With a proven track record in transforming organizations into customer-centric businesses, he has served in key leadership roles at the Boston Consulting Group, Telstra, and ING Bank. Alongside his corporate career, Antonio funded a mobile SaaS startup in Australia and an e-commerce business in Brazil.
Antonio holds an MBA from IE Business School and an MS in Computer Science from Uppsala University.
Jerry Angrave is founder of Empathyce, a specialist Customer and Passenger Experience consultancy. Jerry is UK based and works with companies around the world including those in aviation, travel and hospitality.
The nature of his work is around building and managing effective customer experience programs from a cultural, strategic and operational perspective. He aims to provide clarity, structure and direction for those driving their CX agenda.
He is a member of the Accessibility Advisory Group at London Heathrow Airport, a member of the British Aviation Group and a Certified Customer Experience Professional. Jerry is author of “The Journey Mapping Playbook”, co-chair of the UK networking group for the global Customer Experience Professional’s Association and a judge of the CX World Series awards.
Melik Şengül is a technology developer in the aviation industry, focused on offering passengers high-end, innovative and effective solutions. The objectives he pursues in his current position involve continuous development of new projects to improve passengers’ digital journey.
He manages relations with various partners such as development teams, start-ups and large-scale companies to ensure better experience and increased efficiency for all parties involved.
Andrew Tan is Director of Airport Operations and Service consultancy at Changi Airports International. He is responsible for the operational and service quality aspects of Changi’s airports worldwide. More recently, he led the successful opening of the new terminal at Clark International Airport, Philippines. This began from the takeover and operationalisation of a 25 year PPP* concession to operate the airport, including development and ORAT**. The airport not only was celebrated for its design, but also for raising the bar on passenger experience, including the first contactless check-in system in the country.
Andrew is currently involved in the operational planning and design of a new greenfield airport in SE Asia, including implementing a new CONOPS (Concept of Operations) with self-service technology and modern security screening technology. He has been providing operational advisory and due diligence for projects in the MEA region, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. In the Middle East, Andrew was involved in the opening of the first City checkin terminal in Dammam and has conducted executive training for GACA and King Fahd International Airport. Prior to this role, he was responsible for risk management, planning, preparations and operations for the Rio 2016 Olympics / Paralympics handling at RioGaleao International Airport, ensuring sufficient capacity and a high level of service to the thousands of athletes, media and visitors for the Games.
Andrew brings with him nearly three decades in aviation, both in Singapore and a dozen countries, covering the airport, airline, customer experience, training and ground handling business, including with Singapore Airlines, Jet Airways, sats and Air India SATS. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons), from the National University of Singapore
Kanu heads the Digital innovation and Airport line of business at IBS Software. He believes in the synergy between airport and airline operations that will deliver an integrated travel experience, increase the possibilities of retailing and expand revenue generation opportunities.
Kanu enjoys leading innovation and consulting partnerships with airports and airlines, creating technology that disrupts existing models. He has led several transformation engagements and supports some of the biggest airports, airlines, hotels, online travel agents, and cruise lines on their digital transformation initiatives.
Kanu believes that travel companies must invest in technology and customer experience to make a meaningful digital transformation. His interest in technology ranges from machine learning, natural language processing, and intelligent automation to cloud services and IoT.
Samson Arega Bekele is a visionary strategist known for turning visions into reality through sound strategy development. He possesses a keen ability to identify opportunities within organizations, bringing them together into a coherent whole. Samson is a great connector with strong business acumen and an inspirational leader who effectively combines storytelling with financial insight to drive business advantage. His career began at Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Group, where he excelled academically and later pursued a Master’s degree in the USA, earning numerous honors.
Starting as an Assistant Marketing Officer, Samson’s career progressed within the airline. He demonstrated exceptional leadership, leading to his appointment as the Country Manager for Canada, followed by becoming a Regional Director for Ethiopian Airlines in the USA. During the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, he coordinated the repatriation of thousands of individuals, showcasing his commitment and leadership.
Samson’s contributions have elevated Ethiopian Airlines internationally, earning him recognition and awards, including the 2021 Business Person of the Year Award. He’s a respected figure in decision-making, skilled in various aspects of business management, and maintains a focus on building partnerships and awareness of Ethiopian Airlines’ significance in connecting Africa to the world.
Dr. KJ Devasia presently leads the Department of ‘Enterprise Risk & Corporate Resilience’ at Bangalore International Airports India. In this capacity, he oversees a wide array of critical functions, including Corporate Resilience, Disaster Management, Aviation Emergency Management, Business Continuity, Enterprise Risk Management, and Airport Medical Service.
With over 22 years of extensive domain expertise, Dr. Devasia played an integral role in the planning, construction, and commissioning of Terminal-1, Terminal-2, Runway-1, and Runway-2 at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru. He has also been at the forefront of the pandemic response, leading efforts to combat COVID-19 across the airport’s organizations. Dr. Devasia is a distinguished recipient of the ‘Continuity and Resilience Professional (Private Sector-INDIA) 2017’ award from the Business Continuity Institute (BCI-UK). He has further been honored with the Karnataka Chief Minister’s Meritorious Award for his contributions to Civil Defence and Disaster Management.
Beyond his current role, Dr. Devasia holds several prominent positions:
In addition to his leadership roles, Dr. Devasia is a highly sought-after speaker, having delivered addresses at over 23 international conferences across various countries. He has also participated in numerous webinars and national-level conferences in India.
Marcel Stroop is recognized as a natural relationship builder. He has a tremendous energy and drive to move things forward. He uses this combination to collaborate within the aviation industry to drive the success of transformative solutions. A true aviation aficionado, Marcel combines his personal and professional endeavors at Royal Schiphol Group. In his free time, you’ll often see him ‘flying’ across the road on his racing bike.
Tomas is working in Saudi Arabia with Red Sea Global as Associate Director of Wayfinding & Signage. Overseeing the design and delivery of both resorts and facilities including the new Red Sea International Airport, island destinations, sitewide road network and staff village.
An experienced Wayfinding Director, Project Manager and Sign Planner, with 20 years’ experience working on major transport, hospitality and event projects, involved in the planning of passenger / guest flows, allocation of signage and development of client signage standards. A qualified Graphic Designer with strong communication and interpersonal skills, experience in sign artwork, CAD and 3-D visualisations, as well as technical expertise in Adobe Creative Suite. Moving to Dubai in 2012, as CSM Live’s Director of Wayfinding, leading the Wayfinding & Signage design & delivery at Dubai Airport as a full time consultant for over a decade. Other notable projects whilst in Dubai included the delivery of the Expo 2020 and Museum of the Future wayfinding schemes.
Dr Nadine Itani is a Lecturer and Programme Leader for Air Transport Management at the University of Surrey (UK). She has contributed to managing aviation development projects for ICAO in the Middle East and Africa. Her research areas are performance management, business strategy, and service marketing for air transport. Nadine is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a fellow of the Institute for Sustainability.
Mohsin Albalushi is a seasoned professional in the aviation industry with two decades of extensive experience. He played a pivotal role as a founding member of SalamAir, Oman’s pioneering low-cost airline. As the Director of Ground Operations, he holds responsibility for overseeing both Ground and Cargo Operations, demonstrating his expertise in ensuring the smooth and efficient functioning of these critical aspects of airline operations.
Furthermore, Mohsin Albalushi is recognized by the Oman Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as the approved Post holder for Ground Operations and Dangerous Goods regulations. His dedication to maintaining the highest standards of safety and efficiency in aviation operations makes him an invaluable asset to the industry.
Viktoriia has 17 years of teaching experience in air transport management in Ukraine, South Korea and the UK. She is a postdoctoral alumnus of Fulbright (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, USA) and Erasmus Mundus (Technological University Dublin, Ireland). Currently she is a Senior Lecturer in Aviation and a Programme Leader for MSc Sustainable Air Transport Operations and Planning at the University of Salford, and a Course Developer at the Airport Council International. Viktoriia likes travelling and diving.
Ralf Schustereder is a dedicated and experienced Management & Logistic Expert who has worked with organizations like Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Consulting and SunExpress from the airline’s perspective. In addition, he gained substantial knowledge at GlobeGround and Servisair before he moved to exploit new management roles at Fraport, Cairo Airport, Kassel Airport.
Besides taking managerial roles at passenger airlines he also has extensive experience in the ground handling and cargo fields his strength is the integrated approach starting from strategy, conception and then finally operational implementation. This is also connected with his fundamental understanding of key figures and the operational service level management.
Ralf is renowned for enhancing and monitoring operational goals and outcomes as well as contributing to the design, execution, and audit of international companies’ worldwide business standards. He has a broad set of skills and competences, particularly in the airline and airport industries, and has over ten years of extensive and certified experience in a variety of operational responsibilities and departments.
Burak Kurt joined Plaza Premium Group in 2022 with a major focus on developing PPGs APS solutions. With experience spanning air cargo, passenger terminal hub operations, ground handling, and VIP and General Aviation solutions, Burak brings a comprehensive understanding of the industry to his current role as the SVP-Airport Passenger Services for Plaza Premium Group.
Throughout his career, Burak has held key positions in prominent organizations. He served as the Group Chief Operating Officer – Cargo & Board Member (Global) at National Aviation Services, where he played a crucial role in overseeing operations while driving strategic growth. Additionally, he served as the CEO of Cargo (India) and Regional Director (Turkey) at Celebi Aviation Services, where he successfully managed multiple departments, including finance, sales, marketing, and business development, while driving and consistently ensuring business profitability.
Burak’s remarkable track record spans over 22 years across Europe, Asia, India, the Middle East, and Africa. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering and dual MBAs from renowned universities in Turkey.
I have dedicated nearly four years to Dubai Airports, presently holding the position of an Airside Operations Officer. In this role, my primary responsibility is to guarantee the safety and efficiency of the airfield to facilitate seamless aircraft operations. Additionally, I had the privilege of serving as the Vice President of the Dubai Airports Youth Council, a role in which we are committed to aligning with the government’s vision to support and empower young individuals. Our focus is on encouraging their initiatives and fostering their leadership qualities. The Dubai Airports Youth Council plays a pivotal role in overseeing and implementing the Youth Agenda within Dubai Airports, further enhancing its youth-oriented initiatives. My academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in international hospitality management, with a specific focus on Food & Beverage
Roberto is a globally known accessible air travel expert and aviation accessibility consultant. He is member of the UK Civil Aviation Authority Accessibility Panel since 2012.
In his capacity as accessible air travel expert he has worked with National Enforcement Bodies across Europe and on projects for the European Parliament and the European Commission. He is the only independent accessible air travel expert the European Commission invited to participate the meetings of European National Enforcement Bodies of 2015, 2017, and 2018.
Roberto is a member of the Easyjet Assisted Travel Advisory Board (formerly esaag) since 2012. In 2015, he set up the Ageing Population and PRMs track (now Accessibility track) at Passenger Terminal Conference. From September 2017 to July 2019 Roberto Chaired the Heathrow Access Advisory Group. He has been member of IATA’s Mobility Aids Action Group and he is currently Senior Researcher for INCLAVI, an Erasmus+ funded project lead by Haaga Helia University in Helsinki.
In April 2022, HM Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him an MBE in recognition of his services to accessibility in aviation.
Delip is working for more than 12 years in the aviation industry and deals with international projects. He managed large scale bids and consultancy projects on a global scale and tries bring together knowledge and experience and the result clients expect. After working in the field of airport PPPs he moved to business planning of airports and airport facilities for MAI in the US. Later he managed MAIs global consultancy projects and was responsible in resource- and multi project management.
In his current role as Head of Market he is making sure that MAIs business activities in MENA and Africa are result driven, impactful and of benefit to clients.
Lorenzo has more than 18 years of professional experience in driving business development and operations management for leading aviation companies around the world, including OEM and EPC companies as well as Airlines. Lorenzo has been a major contributor to MAI’s growth over the past six years with significant impact on market positioning, commercial performance, operational improvements as well as the overall transformation of the business and competitive mind-set.
Lorenzo has played an important role in the expansion of MAI´s business and service offerings into management and O&M projects.
With 19 years of operational leadership experience for a major global airline, Sohail has been responsible for operations across Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Having been born and raised in London, he is has been based in the region for 4 years.
Proven leadership, inspiring teams across cultures in a fast-paced environment he provides positive change and dialogue. He now also runs a podcast ‘The Flying High Club’ where industry leaders discuss relevant topics and career pathways to inspire the next generation of aviation.
Richard joined MAG in 1996 holding a variety of Commercial and Operational leadership roles across the Group’s Airports including Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands.
As a founding member of the CAVU leadership team, holds the role of VP Growth responsible for client’s commercial performance and expansion of the organisation’s organic and inorganic growth across EMEA and APAC. Previously held a variety of Board level roles: VP Product Development authoring the product strategy and vision alongside its realisation which included the development of Manchester Airport’s Private Terminal, transforming the guest journey. Business Development Director leading a multi-functional team establishing the organisation globally, deploying B2C propositions expanding global reach unlocking value for Airports, alongside B2B product and services realising premium profit for others.
During MAG’s acquisition of London Stansted, Richard provided leadership for the retail operational transformation unlocking MAG’s ambitious growth aspirations. Held various Director roles on industry bodies.
Sumith De Silva is an experienced corporate strategist and marketer with over 16 years of experience. He currently serves as the Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited, overseeing four international airports. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Management and Marketing, as well as an MBA in Marketing and a B.Sc. (Mgt.) degree.
Sumith is also a certified Practicing Marketer and Certified Professional Marketer (Asia). He is a member of various professional organizations, including the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing and the Academy for Global Business Advancement. Sumith has served as a visiting faculty member for leading MBA, MSc, and bachelor’s degree programs, helping thousands of students, employees, business professionals, and entrepreneurs to develop through training, education, and coaching in Sri Lanka.