Etihad Airways names John Friel as its new General Manager in South Africa

Abu Dhabi, 2015-2-25 — /Travel PR News/ — Etihad Airways, the national airline for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), today announced the appointment of John Friel as its new General Manager in South Africa.

Based at the airline’s offices in Johannesburg, John is responsible for leading Etihad Airways’ commercial operations in South Africa as it continues to grow its presence and operations across the region.

John, a 16-year veteran in the travel sector, has a strong understanding of managing the challenges and opportunities within the industry having worked for a number of leading international airlines, where he developed excellent contacts and worked closely with the tourism industry and across the aviation and travel trade, both in South Africa and abroad.

He joined Etihad Airways in June 2014 as Regional Business Development Manager in South Africa.

“We are very excited to have John take up his new position at our South African office where he will continue to drive commercial success for the airline in cooperation with its partners,” said Maurice Phohleli, Etihad Airways’ Vice President Africa Sub-Sahara and Indian Ocean.

“South Africa is a very important market for us and John has a wealth of commercial management experience and the right credentials to accelerate the growth of our business there.”

Etihad Airways currently operates seven flights a week between Abu Dhabi and Johannesburg. This, combined with a new daily service operated by its codeshare partner, South African Airways, scheduled to start on 29 March, will provide passengers with a double-daily service between South Africa and the UAE, with access to key destinations on Etihad Airways’ fast growing global network in the Indian Subcontinent, Asia, Europe and North America.

The airline has announced plans to launch new daily services to Entebbe and Dar es Salaam in May and December this year, bringing to 11 the total number of routes into Africa and the Indian Ocean, alongside Cairo, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Lagos, Mahé, Male, Nairobi and Tripoli.

Born in Scotland, John has been living in South Africa with his family since 2002.

ENDS 

About Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways began operations in 2003, and in 2014 carried 14.8 million passengers. From its Abu Dhabi base, Etihad Airways flies to 111 existing or announced passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. The airline has a fleet of 110 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and more than 200 aircraft on firm order, including 70 Boeing 787s, 25 Boeing 777-X, 62 Airbus A350s and nine Airbus A380s.

Etihad Airways holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, Alitalia, Jet Airways and Virgin Australia, and is in the process of formalising an equity investment in Swiss-based Etihad Regional, operated by Darwin Airline. Etihad Airways, along with airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and NIKI, also participate in Etihad Airways Partners, a new brand that brings together like-minded airlines to offer customers more choice through improved networks and schedules and enhanced frequent flyer benefits.  For more information, please visit: www.etihad.com

For more information contact:
Damian James, Etihad Airways Corporate Communications
Tel: +971 (0) 2 511 1035
Email:  djames@etijhad.ae

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