Dubai-based Emirates has announced several management appointments with top Emirati talent in key country management positions in the Far East and Africa.

The commercial appointments further demonstrate the airline’s commitment to strengthening its strategic direction and commercial position within these markets, an airline statement said.

The new appointments will see three UAE national commercial managers take on leadership roles in Japan, Malaysia and Zambia.

Thierry Antinori, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Emirates Airline said: “The combined commercial expertise and industry knowledge our UAE Nationals bring to each role will be essential to meeting our challenges, and advancing new business development opportunities as we continue to develop and grow our operations in Japan, Malaysia and Zambia. Investing in our people is core to our strategy, and we are lucky to have tremendous resources within the commercial team to take on these roles.”

Salem Al-Marri will take on the role as the new Country Manager for Japan. In his new role, Salem will further Emirates' mission to grow its brand domestically and to become the preferred airline for travellers in Japan.

Al-Marri began his career with Emirates as a route planning analyst with the Strategic Planning Department. In 2014, he became route planning manager, managing Emirates’ network requirements to support profitability in terms of planning, scheduling, monitoring and optimisation. Al-Marri is no stranger to the Japanese market. Beyond being conversational in Japanese, he spent a year as a research student at Kobe University. Following that, he enrolled in the ICS International Business Strategy MBA program at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

Abdalla Al Zamani has been appointed Country Manager, Malaysia, and will lead growth efforts across the country. Abdulla becomes the first Emirati to take on the role of Country Manager for Malaysia.

Al Zamani has been with Emirates for over 10 years, starting his career in the company’s dedicated UAE National Commercial Management Trainee programme, Al Zamani has since held positions in India and Bangladesh -two of Emirates’ busiest markets. In 2008, he was appointed commercial support manager and was then appointed as Sales Manager Riyadh in 2010. By November 2011, he was promoted to manager in Ethiopia and in February 2014, he held the position of manager Philippines where he helped launch services in Cebu and Clark.

Mohammad Bin Hafiz has been appointed as manager Zambia. Mohammad joined Emirates February 2010 as a commercial support manager and was then appointed as district manager Riyadh in 2013. In March 2014, Mohammad was promoted to manager Morocco. He then joined the National Military Service in January 2016, where he served his term until January this year. – TradeArabia News Service