Oman Air, the sultanate's national carrier, has appointed Paul Starrs, an industry veteran, as its new chief commercial officer.

Bringing with him many years of professional experience in the aviation industry, Starrs will mainly focus on developing a comprehensive and sustainable plan to improve Oman Air’s commercial operations.

Starrs’ previous roles include regional manager commercial operations with Emirates and General Manager Worldwide Sales for Oman Air.

He started his aviation and airline stint with British Airways moving his way up there before joining Oman Air as regional manager - commercial operations in 2009.

Welcoming the appointment, Acting CEO Abdulaziz Al Raisi, said: "We are delighted to welcome Starr back into Oman Air to help further strengthen the company’s commercial operations as we continue our exciting expansion plans."

"In the new role, the revenue management, network and scheduling, sales, marketing, e-commerce, Oman Air holidays, guest experience, call centers and commercial cargo sales will report to him," he stated.

"Starr is a welcome addition to our team and his new role is vital in the next phase of the turnaround focusing on how to sustain our position as a leading international carrier, and develop our innovative customer centric services," he added.

Prior to this, he was the senior VP Global Sales, Distribution and Ancillary products for Emirates.

On his new role, Starrs said: "It is an exciting time to join Oman Air as it continues to build on its position as an award winning international airline. It would be my targeted priority to assist and support Oman Air’s expansion plans during this growth period."

"Inbound tourism is a key focus area for Oman Air and now with the new fantastic world class passenger terminal, there has never been a better time to visit Oman for leisure, business or any other purpose. I’m very much looking forward to working with the teams to attract more visitors to Oman and Oman Air," he added.-TradeArabia News Service