PICTURES: 2018's key airline chief executive appointments

A visual record of some of the most significant leadership appointments across the global airline industry in 2018.

HK Express appointed Luo Cheng as chief executive in January, following the departure of Andrew Cowen. Luo was previously chief executive of Africa World Airlines – a carrier part-owned by HNA Group, which also holds a 45% stake in HK Express (Image credit: HKAIA)

TAP Air Portugal appointed former Azul president Antonoaldo Neves as chief executive in February. Neves replaced Fernando Pinto at TAP's helm after joining the Portuguese flag carrier's board (Image credit: Star Alliance)

Brussels Airlines announced the promotion of Christina Foerster to chief executive in February, replacing Bernard Gustin, who stayed on to support a transition period. Foerster was previously chief commercial officer at the carrier (Image credit: Brussels Airlines)

Hawaiian Airlines' chief financial officer Peter Ingram (left) stepped up to the chief executive role on 1 March, taking over from Mark Dunkerley (centre), who retired (Image credit: Hawaiian Airlines)

WestJet executive vice-president of commercial Ed Sims succeeded Gregg Saretsky as president and chief executive of the airline in March. Saretsky retired, having headed WestJet since 2010 (Image credit: WestJet)

RwandAir appointed Yvonne Makolo (front right) as chief executive in April, replacing acting chief Chance Ndagano. Makolo had previously served as the African airline's deputy chief and head of corporate affairs (Image credit: Rwand High Commission London)

Yuji Akasaka became president of JAL in April, having previously overseen engineering and maintenance operations at the carrier. He replaced Yoshiharu Ueki, who had been at the helm since 2010 (Image credit: Aflo/REX/Shutterstock)

Thai AirAsia named Santisuk Klongchaiya (third from left) as the carrier’s new chief executive in May, replacing Tassapon Bijleveld (Image credit: AirAsia)

JetBlue Airways promoted Joanna Geraghty to president and chief operating officer in May. She reports to chief executive Robin Hayes (Image credit: Concern Worldwide)

Ahmed Adel (right) was appointed chairman and chief executive of Egyptair in June, replacing Safwat Musallam. He joined the carrier as a pilot in 1998 and had risen to the position of vice-chairman (Image credit: AACO)

Aerolineas Argentinas appointed Luis Malvido as president in late July, replacing Mario Dell'Acqua. Malvido's most recent role was as the executive director for the Hispanic region of South America at Telefonica (Image credit: Telefonica)

Vincent Hodder (right) was appointed as the first chief executive of IAG budget unit Level in July. Hodder was working as Flybe's chief strategy officer, having previously been employed by Jetstar and VivaAerobus (Image credit: Mount Charles)

Air France-KLM announced the appointment of Ben Smith as its chief executive in August, three months after Jean-Marc Janaillac resigned. Smith was president of airlines and chief operating officer at Air Canada (Image credit: Air France)

Thai Airways International confirmed that Sumeth Damrongchaitham (third from left) stepped into the top job on 1 September. He succeeded Usanee Sangsingkeo, the carrier's acting president since February 2017 (Image credit: PATA)

Finnair named senior banking executive Topi Manner as the new chief of the carrier in September, succeeding Pekka Vauramo. Manner is due to take the helm on 1 January 2019 (Image credit: Finnair)

Han Chang-soo (second from right) took over as president and chief executive of Asiana Airlines on 10 September, following the resignation of Kim Soo-cheon. Han had previously worked in several roles at the airline and its parent company (Image credit: SkyTrax)

Garuda Indonesia named Ari Askhara as its new chief executive on 12 September, replacing Pahala Mansury (Image credit: Palindo III)

AirAsia X named Nadda Buranasiri as the budget carrier’s chief executive in early November, taking over from co-chiefs Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin bin Meranun. Buranasiri is the former head of the long-haul Thai AirAsia X division (Image credit: AirAsia)

Icelandair Group formally named Bogi Nils Bogason (right) as its chief executive in early December, following his term as interim head of the company. Bogason took over as interim chief following the resignation of Bjorgolfur Johannsson in August (Image credit: Dublin airport)

Air France named Anne Rigail as its new chief executive in mid-December, having served as the carrier's EVP customer. Air France-KLM group chief Ben Smith had been filling the role on an acting basis since September, following the resignation of Franck Terner (Image credit: Air France)

Virgin Atlantic chief commercial officer Shai Weiss will take the helm of the UK carrier after Craig Kreeger retires at the end of 2018. Weiss had previously worked as the airline's finance chief (Image credit: Virgin Atlantic)

British Airways executive Sean Doyle becomes chief executive of Aer Lingus at the beginning of 2019, taking over from Stephen Kavanagh. Doyle is currently BA’s director of network, fleet and alliances (Image credit: Aer Lingus)

This gallery first appeared in a special year-end edition of Airline Business. You can view the issue for freehere.

Source: Cirium Dashboard