How did you get into aviation?
Aviation has been a passion for me since I was about 16. I knew it was the industry I wanted to be in and was reading Flight International when I was at school. I began working as an apprentice with GAMCO (the Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company, now Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies) and the government supported me when I got a place at City University in London to study aeronautical engineering. After I qualified as an engineer I returned to Abu Dhabi with GAMCO.
So how did you move into marketing?
The government is very good at helping with career development and I am very lucky that people like His Highness Dr Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan, the chairman of Etihad and His Excellency Khalifa Al Mazrouei, chairman of Abu Dhabi Airport Company, have given me advice. I was invited to move to a sales manager role at Royal Jet, the government-owned business aviation charter company, which I found really interesting, and I learned a lot about flight operations. From there I went to Etihad in network planning and was posted to London as corporate sales manager. Working with Etihad in the planning area I got to see airlines making their presentations. The whole idea of airline marketing is only about eight or 10 years old. Before then airports were complacent, completely different from now when airports are competing for business. I was very excited to be offered the post with Abu Dhabi Airport Company in February.
What does the job entail?
People don't come to an airport because of the airport, they come because of the destination. My job is really to sell Abu Dhabi to airlines. Every airport is different and every destination is different. I am very fortunate that Abu Dhabi has so much to offer. Our 2030 plan is in place and there is a lot of investment in infrastructure and in tourism. We have things like the Guggenheim museum coming here, we have the Formula 1 motor racing circuit, we have natural islands and business is booming. We are the capital city of the United Arab Emirates and so we are a natural destination both for business and high-end tourism. We often say that people in the street may not know about Abu Dhabi, but the people in Who's Who do. What we have also had to do is provide an airport that reflects everything that is great about Abu Dhabi to make it easier for the airlines and their passengers to come here.
My job is to help carriers understand what we are doing and make them want to be part of it.
What are you doing with the airport?
The government has a $6.8 billion development plan. Terminal 3 has just had its soft opening and the $500 million second runway has just become operational. Our national airline Etihad is expanding and we are ready for that growth and for the arrival of other new airlines. We are also developing Al Ain airport as a cargo hub and for aviation services as well as passenger services. In the Middle East it is unusual to have secondary airports, but Al Ain has a population of 500,000.
What is the toughest part of your job?
Probably the need for patience. It takes a long time from the moment an airline is interested until they begin operating the service. There is a lot of travel. I have probably made 30 long-haul trips in the first six months in the job. But it is great to give something back to this great country.
And where do you go from here?
That will be for the government to decide. I don't mind what it is, as long as it is in aviation.
Al Bulooki: Happy as long as he is working in aviation one way or another
"People in the street
may not know about
Abu Dhabi. The people
in Who's Who do"
Source: Flight International
