flyadeal has announced the appointment of European airline executive Rogier van Enk as Chief Commercial and Customer Officer.
Dutch national Van Enk, who joins Saudi Arabia’s youngest low-cost carrier (LCC) at a time of unprecedented growth, brings with him a wealth of industry experience working in Europe – with British Airways and latterly, Finnair, the national carrier of Finland.
Just seven years old, flyadeal has been catapulted into the region’s fastest growing LCC currently operating a modern fleet of 37 aircraft to 30 seasonal and year-round destinations in Saudi Arabia, Middle East, Europe, North Africa and South Asia.
Van Enk said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to join flyadeal that has ambitious, yet realistic growth targets fully aligned with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 of building a dynamic aviation and tourism industry. With one new route being launched, on average, every two weeks this year and a domestic and international network that will triple to over 100 destinations by 2030, what an opportune time to be part of an exciting young airline that’s maturing very fast.
“I’ve already seen flyadeal’s energy and enthusiasm with a team which is commercially and operationally focused on reaching its goal driven with passion. As Saudi Arabia takes centre stage in Middle East aviation, I very much look forward to working alongside new colleagues and contributing to the continued growth of flyadeal bringing rewarding experience gained at both Finnair and British Airways to my new role.”
During his two spells in a 12-year career at Finnair based in Helsinki, Van Enk held a number of commercial roles covering revenue management, distribution, online sales, business analytics and ancillary product development. He joins flyadeal after four years as Finnair’s Senior Vice President Customer Engagement responsible for, among others, brand, marketing, and loyalty business. He was also formerly Head of Distribution and Payments at British Airways in London.
He added: “On a personal level, I’m excited about the move to Saudi Arabia with my young family, looking forward to enjoying the country’s rich cultural heritage, the nation’s diversity and, as a foodie, the wonderful cuisine. More importantly, meet, engage and interact with amazing people in the Kingdom.”
Steven Greenway, flyadeal Chief Executive Officer, said: “On behalf of the team here at flyadeal, a great pleasure to welcome Rogier onboard. His experience working across many commercial and customer functions within full-service airlines in Europe made him the ideal appointment to take flyadeal’s commercial helm and bring his expertise into a low-cost environment.
“Rogier’s deep insights and knowledge gained in the digital space at Finnair and British Airways will contribute towards flyadeal’s continued mandate to remain digitally driven keeping both costs low and fares extremely competitive. My thanks to Trevor Spinks in his advisory role steering the commercial ship at flyadeal over the past 12 months during which flyadeal secured significant achievements including profitability for the first time in its seven-year history. Having made great progress, we look to keep up the momentum with Rogier taking over at a time of unprecedented expansion.”
Van Enk joins as flyadeal prepares for its busy summer seasonal flying programme with the launch of flights to the coastal city of Trabzon in Turkey; Baku and Tbilisi, capitals of Azerbaijan and Georgia respectively; the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh; Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzogovina; and, for the first time, Salalah in southern Oman.
Over the next few months, aside from scheduled operations which represent the backbone of flyadeal’s business, the airline will expand its year-round Umrah services to destinations beyond the Middle East and central Asia. flyadeal is also planning for the upcoming Hajj season by flying 75,000 pilgrims – more than double last year – into the Kingdom from Europe, Middle East, South Asia and Asia.