Etihad Airways has appointed Sajida Ismail as Vice President Service and Hospitality to lead service design and development of the hospitality culture across all areas of the business.

Reporting to Shane O’Hare, Etihad Airways’ Senior Vice President Marketing, Ms Ismail will be responsible for the design of Etihad Airways’ award-winning signature service at all customer touch points. She will also be responsible for the development of training standards for all staff working inflight, and at airports, lounges, and crew training centres.

She moves to the new role from her previous position as Etihad Airways’ Head of Product and Service Standards, where she was responsible for the design, development and implementation of the airline’s revolutionary new service delivery concepts in all cabins including The Residence by Etihad and its dedicated Butler, as well as the acclaimed Flying Nanny program.

Prior to joining Etihad Airways in 2007, she worked for Bahrain-based Gulf Air for 20 years in various senior marketing and product related roles.

Shane O’Hare, Etihad Airways’ Senior Vice President Marketing, said: “With almost 30 years of experience in the airline and hospitality industries, Sajida’s tremendous knowledge and expertise in the fields of product and service development has placed her in the ideal position to deliver outstanding hospitality excellence in her new role. She has provided remarkable leadership and direction to the Product & Service Standards team.

“Sajida was instrumental in the design and realisation of Etihad Airways’ new inflight service concepts on the new Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 fleet and she will be invaluable in her new role, responsible for the development and implementation of the next phase of the Etihad Airways service and hospitality journey.”

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Ismail said: “Being part of the growth and success of

Etihad Airways continues to be a rewarding experience for me. This new role will allow my team and I to create the strategies and innovative programs needed to feed the growth of the airline as a world leader in service and hospitality design. This will enable us to foster guest loyalty by creating unique travel experiences they will value.”