The Future of Air Transport

Sigthor Einarsson

Deputy CEO, Icelandair Group

Biography

In May 2008 Sigþór was appointed deputy CEO of the Group, having been the Chief of Operations of Icelandair Group since March 2006. Sigþór was appointed Managing Director of Loftleidir Icelandic from it's foundation in the beginning of 2002. He was then appointed as Director of Resource Management in May 1999. Sigþór joined Icelandair Group in April 1996, starting off in positions related to strategic planning. He holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management (Diplom Wirtschaftsingeneur) from the University in Darmstadt, Germany.

Thanos Pascalis

Chief Operating Officer, Olympic Air

Biography

Thanos Pascalis studied Aeronautical Engineering in the UK, obtaining a degree, followed by a Masters in Air Transport Engineering from Cranfield Institute of Technology. He settled in Hatfield, UK, working for British Aerospace Commercial Aircraft within the Airworthiness section. He then returned to Greece during the deregulation period to assist in the setting up of the first Greek private airlines South East European Airlines and Apollo Airlines, holding the positions of Technical Services Manager and Engineering Manager respectively. In 1996 he departed Greece to join Monarch Aircraft Engineering in Luton as Customer Support Manager, looking after the company's third party business.

Thanos returned to Greece again in 1999 for the start up of Aegean Airlines, taking the position of Technical Director and was responsible among other things for the EASA Part 145 and CAMO approval of the company. In early 2009, Thanos was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Accountable Manager of the new private Olympic Air with responsibilities for both technical and flight operations. He was appointed European Engineer status in 1994 by FEANI, is a founding member of the Flight Safety Foundation South Eastern Europe, former member of the IATA EMG, former chairman of the IATA maintenance cost task force, MRO Europe editorial board member and holder of a Private Pilots Licence.

Peter Hill

Chief Executive Officer, Oman Airways

Biography

Peter Hill joined BOAC (now British Airways) in 1961 as a Commercial Trainee, which provided him with a sound knowledge base on the workings of an international airline, both in the UK and overseas. His last posting was as Chief Reservations Officer, Kampala, Uganda where he spent nearly two years under the regime of the infamous General Idi Amin.

In 1974 he joined Gulf Aviation in Bahrain as Reservation Superintendant and was part of the team that created Gulf Air, arguably the finest airline in the Middle East in the late 70s and early 80s.

In 1978 Peter Hill joined Maurice Flanagan in DNATA and over the next few years DNATA became one of the foremost travel organisations in the Gulf. Then in late 1984, he was part of the small original team that put together the First Business Plan for an airline that changed the meaning of global travel – Emirates. As its first Commercial Manager he oversaw its rapidly growing network and profitable route expansion.

1996 saw his amicable departure from Emirates to pursue a private business venture in London, but two short years later, in 1998, he was persuaded by Emirates to return to manage their recent investment in Air Lanka, based in Colombo. For the next ten years, in his position as CEO, he successfully steered the rebranded Sri Lankan Airlines through a series of challenges and kept the Group profitable for the most part, whilst helping it gain a reputation as probably the best airline in South Asia.

A return to Dubai in the final days of 2007 saw him assisting the newly appointed CEO of Dubai's first low cost carrier (now Fly Dubai), with establishing the foundations for the formation of what promises to be yet another success story from the famous Dubai stable.

Following an approach from the Government of Oman, Peter Hill was delighted to take up the post of CEO Oman Air and is now busily working on creating a world-class airline based in Muscat, focused upon developing a network of sustainable air services that will promote the Sultanate's growing leisure and business travel markets.

Tewolde Gebremariam

Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines

Biography

Tewolde GebreMariam joined Ethiopian Airlines in 1985 as Transportation Agent at Addis Ababa Airport. He progressed through the ladder to Manager Cargo Traffic Handling. He was appointed as Regional Director for India and South East Asia based in Bombay. He was transferred to Jeddah as Area Manager for Saudi Arabia. When Ethiopian Airlines commenced direct services to the USA, he was appointed as Area Sales Manager for North East USA and Canada based in New York. In October 2000 he was appointed as Regional Director for the Americas.

On August 16, 2004 he was appointed as Executive Officer marketing & Sales to head the Marketing and Sales Operations of Ethiopian Airlines. On July 1, 2006 he was appointed as Chief Operating Officer of Ethiopian Airlines to head all the operating divisions of the airline, Commercial, Flight Operations, Customer Services and Maintenance and Engineering. On September 15, 2010, he was appointed as Designate CEO.

He has earned his B.A. degree in Economics from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and his Masters of Business Administrations Degree from the Open University in the United Kingdom.

Mr. GebreMariam is married and a father of four children and currently residing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Julian Carr

Managing Director, bmibaby

Biography

Julian was appointed managing director of bmibaby on April 1st 2010. He previously held the position of commercial director for two years, responsible for marketing, revenue management, public relations, network planning, e-commerce and customer services.

Prior to this Julian spent two years working for IATA in Montreal where he was responsible for marketing and business development opportunities within the airline sector.

His initial entry into the airline industry however was with Jet2.com, where he was involved in the business planning and launch of the airline. After a term as business development manager for Jet2.com, he moved to MyTravelLite as head of marketing and development, though soon took over as managing director of the airline.

Prior to entering the airline industry, Julian had ten years of management experience within the entertainment industry, working with both Virgin and Blockbuster.

He holds an MSc in Air Transport Management, and is a qualified private pilot.

Christoph Mueller

Chief Executive Officer, Aer Lingus

Biography

Christoph Mueller joined Aer Lingus as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in September 2009. He previously held the position of Aviation Director at TUI Travel plc, a leading international leisure travel group operating a pan-European airline where he managed a total of seven separate airlines, a fleet of 160 short-haul and long-haul aircraft and a team of 11,000 employees.

Christoph Mueller has extensive experience within the aviation industry, having held senior positions in Daimler Benz Aerospace, Lufthansa AG, the Sabena Group, DHL and Deutsche Post AG, prior to his roles at TUI Travel plc. He served as the Chief Financial Officer of DHL Worldwide from 2002 to 2004 and became a member of the Executive Committee of Deutsche Post AG in 2004.

In January 2006, Christoph joined the Executive Committee of TUI AG with responsibility for its flight division. In 2007, TUI AG merged its travel division with First Choice Holidays PLC to form TUI Travel plc, a leading international travel group listed on the London Stock Exchange and a member of the FTSE 100. Christoph was Executive Director, Aviation, at TUI Travel plc from 2007 to 2009 during which time he also served as President of the Brussels based International Air Carrier Association.

He has an MBA from the University of Cologne and subsequently completed an Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.