Air Seychelles has appointed Roy Kinnear as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective as of July 1 2015.
Kinnear joins Air Seychelles from strategic partner Etihad Airways, where he held the position of senior vice president of revenue management and planning, and will replace Manoj Papa.
The Board of Air Seychelles, chaired by Joël Morgan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport, approved the appointment, with Kinnear earning a reputation for delivering leading practice in both commercial and financial operations of the business.
Minister Morgan welcomed the appointment, saying that he expects big things from the appointment.
“Roy Kinnear is a highly talented industry executive with the experience and expertise to lead Air Seychelles and maintain the dynamism and momentum of the airline,” Morgan said.
“Roy brings new skills for a new phase in the continuous and very successful evolution of Air Seychelles, which now has a strong foundation and a growing reputation that extends well beyond the Indian Ocean, as a leading airline.”
“Air Seychelles is focused on extracting maximum value from its modern fleet and its expanding regional and international network, which it will grow strategically with new destinations and trusted codeshare partnerships. I would like to sincerely thank Manoj Papa for his outstanding contribution over the past 18 months.”
Confirming its success, Air Seychelles was recognised earlier this week at the World Travel Awards, being named the Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline, Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline – Business Class, and Indian Ocean’s Leading Cabin Crew, which it won for the second year running.
“I am proud to be given the opportunity to lead Air Seychelles with its demonstrated success and yet significant untapped potential,” Kinnear said.
“I look forward to working with leaders across all areas of the business to capture opportunities and drive performance, while continuing to build a supportive team-based culture.
“With a strong and focused team we will be able to tackle and succeed at anything we put our mind to; this is indeed a very exciting time in the evolution of Air Seychelles.”
Kinnear started his career with British airline, bmi, holding the position of general manager of revenue optimisation, before moving to Bahrain to become head of network revenue management at Gulf Air from 2002 to 2006.
Kinnear has also worked as the vice president of revenue management for Etihad, and has previously been a Board Member and Chairman of Amadeus Gulf and Armaguard LLC, both joint ventures of Etihad Airways.
