Gulf Air has appointed Lee Shave as vice president marketing and sales to be based in Bahrain.
Shave joins from STA Travel Group where he was global commercial director. Before that he worked for Travel Industry Services, Qatar Airways, Swissair and British Airways.
He replaces Danny Barranger who temporarily filled the role after John Butler moved back to Australia. Barranger returns to his role as head of sales.
The appointment is part of a restructuring of the business after the airline launched a three-year strategy called ‘Smart Airline, Successful Business’ in February.
Under the new strategy, Gulf Air is focusing on two hubs – Bahrain and Muscat – and is investing in product upgrades.
Announcing its first quarter results, the airline said forward bookings for April show the full effects of the two-hub strategy with year-on-year increases of more than 40% in passengers in both hubs.
In the first three months, seat factor was up to 73%, reflecting a 6.3 % increase in premium passengers and a strong increase in traffic for the Haj pilgrimage. Unit revenue for the same period rose by 6.6%.
Gulf Air president and chief executive James Hogan said: “We have regained the confidence of the market. However moving forward we need to focus more on market segmentation that will serve our various customer groups more effectively.”
By Bev Fearis
