Emirates Appoints Rob Gurney to Senior Vice President North America

Emirates yesterday has announced the appointment of Rob Gurney as Emirates’ Senior Vice President North America. Reporting directly to Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, West, Gurney will assume responsibility for Emirates’ commercial operations in both the United States and Canada including Commercial, Cargo, Airport Services, Finance and Human Resources.

“The creation of this new Senior Vice President role and the appointment of Rob Gurney is a testament to our commitment to the continued development of the North American market,” said Hubert Frach. “North America is, and remains, a key strategic growth market for Emirates and in this role, Rob will ensure that we have the right structure and strategy in place to further develop our business and to deepen our business relationships.”

Gurney has deep commercial and operational experience in the aviation, travel and tourism industries. He joined Emirates in October 2014 as Divisional Vice President Australasia, where he was instrumental in developing Emirates’ relationship with Qantas Airways. Prior to joining Emirates, Gurney was Chief Executive Officer of Helloworld Limited (previously the Jetset Travelworld Group). Gurney has held a number of senior positions with Qantas Airways and British Airways in Australia and overseas markets.

In his position as Group Executive Qantas Airlines Commercial, Gurney was responsible for global sales & marketing, direct channels including Qantas.com, regional airline QantasLink (comprising of jet and turboprop operations) and Qantas Freight. He played a key role in developing and implementing commercial strategies resulting in Qantas attaining a market leader position. Furthermore, Mr. Gurney was on the Executive Committee over a four year period.

Gurney has served on a number of tourism and travel related boards, including the Asian-based Tour East Group (a leading business and leisure travel business), Australian Tourism Export Council, Tourism Western Australia and Tourism & Transport Forum Australia.

Emirates and the U.S.
Founded in 1985, Emirates is a global connector of people, places and economies. Based in Dubai, the airline’s global network serves 149 destinations in 80 countries across six continents. Its luxurious amenities, regionally inspired gourmet cuisine, award-winning in-flight entertainment system – ice – and unmatched hospitality provided by its iconic multilingual Cabin Crew have made Emirates one of the world’s most recognized airline brands.

Emirates has carried more than 11 million passengers on U.S. flights since launching services to New York in 2004. The airline currently serves 10 U.S. gateways, with 15 daily flights – Orlando (MCO), Chicago (ORD), Boston (BOS), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), Seattle (SEA), Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Washington (IAD) and New York (JFK), as well as operating a trans-Atlantic route between JFK and Milan and a freighter service to Atlanta. Emirates SkyCargo transports up to 650 tons of U.S. exports each week – including auto parts from New York, apples and cherries from Seattle, and oil and gas equipment from Houston – stimulating trade and opening new markets for American businesses across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.