As one of the senior managers in National Technology Group (NTG), Rashid Al Ballaa has been heading the Business Development team in NTG over the past eight years. Since the beginning of his career with the NTG, Rashid was the driving force behind the groups’ Internet Initiatives. Most recently, he has been spearheading Mubasher's business development team regionally with offices across the GCC, and expanding to Asia and North Africa. Among the business that were established and managed by him is Direct Broker for Financial Services (DBFS), the UAE’s first STP e-brokerage company and one of the top five profitable brokers in the UAE. Rashid is also the CEO of NTGs’ Internet group of companies that include OneCard, NetAdVantage, N2Ventures, Direct Distribution and Jeel ISP. Rashid Al Ballaa holds a B.Sc. in Computer science with honors degree from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. OneCard is the Arab World’s first and largest multi-function secured e-Payment services that allow users to access the most comprehensive portfolio of Merchants. The payment service was initially launched in Saudi Arabia during April 2004, and made headlines due to high public interest in this first of a kind product in Saudi Arabia. OneCard domain has further expansion by Y2008 to encompass Egypt, GCC countries, Levant region, Iran and North Africa, by becoming an authorized reseller for all local prepaid services like eGovernment, DSL connectivity, GSM, airlines tickets, and to introduce international online services for each country.

Mr. AlHamer is an Aviation Professional with varying interests and business wisdom. He is an experienced Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with well-proven commercial, operational, and people management, and in the public and private sector. Mr. AlHamer is skilled in developing department budgets and creating objectives, the experience which he acquired when he worked in several governmental posts including the position as the Assistant Undersecretary for Financial Planning and Budgeting under the Ministry of Finance and National Economy in the Government of Bahrain. Mr. AlHamer is currently the Chairman of Rizon Jet, an Executive Air Charter Company prior to becoming the Managing Director of Bahrain Air. He has an extensive aviation experience in the operations and regulatory discipline by virtue of holding formally the position of the Chief Executive Officer at Gulf Air and Bahrain Department of Civil Aviation as the Undersecretary for the Civil Aviation affairs for combined experience of more than 12 years. From then on, he moved with his career to become an active member of Air Arabia as founding committee member and was instrumental in setting up the business plan and the model for the first Low Cost Carrier in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He was deeply involved with the start-up of the company in 2003 and administered operational programs in compliance with the aeronautical regulatory authority standards, performance and auditing requirements. Mr. AlHamer remained in the Board of Directors of the airline from inception until it was offered to the Public in one of the most successful IPO operations in the aviation industry in MENA region. Mr. AlHamer has served as Chairman and Member of the Board of several companies in Bahrain, Oman, UAE and Canada where he is currently serving as a Board member with Star navigation Systems based in Toronto. Mr. AlHamer holds a Post Graduate Qualification and Masters degree in National Accounting and in Public Administration. He also holds an airline Pilot flying licenses from USA, Oman, Qatar and UAE and qualified Line and Simulator Training Captain on the Airbus A320.

H. E. Khalifa Mohamed Al Mazrouei Chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), which is operating and managing Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Int’l Airports. Supervision Committee for the Expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport (SCADIA), which manages the implementation of the expansion of ADIA. Prior to his current position, H. E. Khalifa Al Mazrouei managed a number of projects at Mubadala, including comprehensive market, operational and financial due diligences, strategic assessment operational audits and re-structuring plans. In addition, H. E. Khalifa Al Mazrouei is also: Member of the Board of Directors - Amiri Flight Chairman of World Trade Centre - Abu Dhabi Vice Chairman of the Board - Al Taif Technical Services Member of the Board of Directors - Tourism Development & Investment Co. Member of the Board of Directors - Al Jazeera Club Chairman of the Project Committee - Al Jazeera Club

Salem Rashid Al Noaimi is CEO of Waha Leasing PrJSC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Waha Capital PJSC, the Abu Dhabi-based and listed holding company. Waha Leasing will manage all the leasing businesses of Waha Capital's predecessor, Oasis International Leasing, PJSC of which Al Noaimi was the Acting CEO. Al Noaimi joined the Oasis team in August 2004 as the Director of Business Development and Investor Relations and became the Acting CEO of the company in 2007. Previously, Al Noaimi worked in the investments department of Dubai Islamic Bank. His prior assignments were with the UAE Central Bank, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and Kraft Foods. Al Noaimi is a UAE national with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and International Business from the Northeastern University in Boston, USA.

Mohammed oversees the running of the Academy, the only in the region offering both Helicopter and Aeroplane Civilian Pilot Training. His experience in the Aerospace Industry enables him to efficiently handle his divergent duties with a proven track record. Mohammed joined the UAE Air Force in 1980 and has since been involved in aviation, specifically training. He holds a Master’s degree in Military Studies from the UK’s elite Command & Staff College at Bracknell. This is the college which holds the distinction of having produced the most Generals in the world. An avid flying enthusiast, Mohammed trained and graduated in the UK with the Royal Air Force as an "A2" Pilot Instructor, an honour which is still unmatched in the UAE.

Adel Ali, together with the management team has been given credit for setting up the Middle East and North Africa’s first low-cost carrier (LCC), Air Arabia. Adel has brought over 25 years of strategic aviation, tourism and marketing experience to Air Arabia since the company commenced operations in October 2003. Adel’s distinctive leadership style, vision, skilful management combined with his charisma and zeal, makes him an inspiration to his team and has made Air Arabia one of the top 50 most admired companies in the Arab world. Adel previously served as Vice President (Commercial and Customer Service) for Gulf Air, where he played a central role in the airline’s recovery. Before that, he spent over 20 years with British Airways where he also held senior management positions, including General Manager (Middle East and Africa). In addition, Adel has served as a Director and a Senior Board Member for a number of companies in the Middle East and Europe. He has been recognised within the industry as a Middle East airline expert and has received awards for his contribution to air transport and tourism in the Middle East and Africa. Adel innovative achievements has been globally recognized on creating a successful low cost business model in the Middle East customised as per region’s needs, marking Air Arabia as the first low-cost airline in the MENA region. Adel drove Air Arabia’s growth to become the largest low cost carrier in the Middle East as well as the first publicly owned airline in the Arab World with in a span of only four years. Adel holds an MBA degree from Marlhurst University, Oregon, USA. He bagged ‘British Airways Award for Excellence’ and ‘Middle East Tourism Contribution Award’. In 1983 and 1991, he received ‘British Airways Customer Services Award’. In 2007, Adel has been awarded the ‘Airline CEO of the year’ by Aviation Business Magazine. Adel is also Board Member and CEO of FlyYeti.com, Nepal’s first Low cost carrier and the Chairman of Sharjah Information Systems Associates (ISA) and Alpha Sharjah catering.

Mohammed Salem Awad, Manager of International Relations in the Corporate Planning Department of Yemenia (Yemen Airways). He has a Bachelors Degree from Aden University and an IATA Diploma in Airline Management. He joined Yemenia in 1988. Prior to that, he held various positions among which; Head of reliability and maintenance, projects and research manager and Acting Corporate Planning Director. He serves many Yemeni companies as a scientific consultant in supply chain, forecasting and maintenance. Also he served as an active member of the both the Arabic strategic team and Arabic planning committee of AACO. Mohammed is an AGIFORS member and has published many international papers, in IATA, IFToM. Aviation Industry, and AGIFORS Conference.

Mr Edgardo Badiali is the Chief Executive Officer of GoAir. He brings with him over 15 years of senior management experience and 27 years of experience in the aviation sector. He has experience in various functions of airline management from Strategic planning, Mergers & Acquisitions, Commercial, eCommerce, Revenue Management, Operations, In-Flight and Catering. Before joining GoAir, Mr Badiali was the CEO of Italian low cost airline MyAir. He is also the co-founder and member of the Executive Committee of the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA). He has also held various senior positions in leading airlines including Swiss Air and Jet Airways.

George Cooper joined Kuwait National Airways in January 2008 as the CEO with more than 30 years of airline industry experience. Mr Cooper’s extensive experience includes an intimate knowledge of airline operations, airline management and related industries. Formerly the CEO of the air services company OnAir, Mr Cooper was also Senior Vice President at SITA, the supplier of technology services and communications to the airline industry. This followed an extensive career at British Airways where he was Director Europe amongst several Director posts where he managed several of BA’s subsidiary airlines. Before moving into Commercial passenger operations at British Airways, Mr Cooper was a Senior Manager in BA Cargo and before that was a pilot with the company flying both short and long haul routes.

Andrew has 18 years of experience in the airline industry. In June 2005, Andrew was appointed CEO/Project Director tasked with setting up Saudi Arabia’s low fares airline, Sama which successfully launched in March 2007 after a drawn out regulatory approval process. Sama has gone onto become Saudi Arabia’s second biggest airline, taking 1,000,000 bookings a year after launch. Sama flies to 22 destinations across the Middle East and has just been recognised by the Gulf Marketing Review, as the ‘Best New Brand in the Middle East’. Prior to this, Andrew, with a number of ex-colleagues from Go/easyJet, founded Mango Aviation Partners, the first low cost, airline-dedicated advisory firm. Mango has worked on a variety of aviation related start-up projects around the world. Most recent examples include the turn-key set-up of Sama in Saudi Arabia and the financing and launch of Silverjet, the UK’s first business class only longhaul airline. Prior to forming Mango, until July 2002, Andrew was the Finance Director of Go Fly Ltd until the takeover by easyJet Plc. Andrew joined Go in 2000 where he was variously responsible for the strategic planning and finance function of the airline. Responsibilities included key roles in the MBO of Go from British Airways and guiding the airline’s growth into profitability and expansion. Before joining Go, Andrew worked for 10 years at British Airways in a variety of financial roles, principally associated with BA’s Americas business unit. Andrew has a BSc (Hons) in Banking & International Finance from The City University, London and qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1992.

On July 1st 2005, Lionel Flasseur took the position of Marketing and Sales Strategy Manager at the Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport. Considered a young executive at the age of 38, his main objective is to develop the platform’s offer in terms of passenger and freight transport, as well as non-aeronautical revenues and in particular shops and services. He is assisted by a staff of 35. In 1991, he graduated from the « Ecole Supérieure de Commerce » in Lille having specialised in human resources management. Since his career has constantly evolved. During the 9 years he spent in the agro-food industry, in which he started as Area Manager, he was appointed Regional Development Manager then Sales Development Manager in France for MASTERFOODS – MARS ALIMENTAIRE. This multinational company commercializes prestigious brands such as Mars, M&M’s, Twix and Bounty. In December, Lionel Flasseur joined the group LASTMINUTE.COM (Degriftour.com –Travelprice.fr) as Sales and Marketing Manager. The development potential of Internet and the creation of new distribution channels, as well as his interest in the travel and leisure industry, naturally influenced his professional choice. His achievements include developing the brands and sales partnerships and being in charge of a call center manned by a staff of 80. For Lionel Flasseur, « coming to Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport means working as a team for a structure with real development objectives based on a huge potential. The Lyon platform has, without doubt, its place in the world of national and international airports».

Peter Harbison is Executive Chairman of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). Peter’s has more than 30 years experience in aviation, focusing on government regulation, airport management and privatisation, and airline startup and strategy. He has conducted more than 200 consultancy projects from the Middle East, India, China, Asia and the South Pacific. Peter is a former Chairman of the IATA’s World Aviation Regulation Monitoring Group. Also a board member of the Australian Aviation Council. Peter is a law graduate of Melbourne and London Universities and holds a Masters in Law from McGill University.

Steffen Harpoth has a long career in the aviation business starting in SAS, where he became Deputy President responsible for SAS Group finance and administrative affairs; also chairman of SAS International Hotels and Linjeflyg AB, and a board member of SAS Service Partner, ABH(British Midland) and LanChile. In 1994 he joined FLS Industries A/S as Executive Vice President responsible for Group Finance, and Group President and CEO for the FLS Aerospace Group. Steffen Harpoth was a leading figure in FLS’s acquisition of Team Aer Lingus. Since 2000 he has through his one-man private company, SHC, been involved in various aviation related transactions and been of assistance to clients like SAS, Lufthansa Technik, Rockwell Collins, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd., SH&E, Gulf Air, Avborne Inc., Orcon Corporation, Royal Jet and others. Steffen Harpoth joined Silver Air as CEO in November 2007

Dr Kostas Iatrou is the Managing Director and Editor of AirTransportNews. He holds a PhD in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University. He is co-author of the book “Airline Choices for the Future”. Kostas is also a speaker at numerous aviation conferences and seminars such as IATA Commercial Strategy Symposium, ICAO Liberalization Symposium, ACI World Assembly, AFRAA General Assembly and at several Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) World Conferences. Finally, he is Visiting Lecturer at Cranfield University and Partner of AirConsulting Group.

Rimzie is the General Manager for Marketing & Advertising for Dubai Airports, the newly formed management company for both Dubai International and Dubai World Central, Al Maktoum International airports, based in Dubai, UAE. A Mathematics Honours graduate from Sri Lanka with over 18 years experience in the aviation industry in the Middle East.. She has over 24 years experience in Marketing in the Middle East and has worked in various multi national organisations as well as leading local institutions in Dubai including J. Walter Thompson Middle East, HSBC Middle East, Emirates Group, Jumeirah International, Sharjah International Airport, Dubai Internet City and now at the Dubai Airports. She also leads the Airline Marketing Team at Dubai Airport which brings together all service providers at the airport to provide a one-stop-shop and seamless service to both new and existing airlines at DIA.

Mr. Bhupesh Joshi has worked extensively for more than 25 years in Airline industry in areas like Ramp handling, passenger handling and passenger sales, cargo handling and sales. He has served as Station Manager for international Airlines like Royal Jordan ian and Air Canada and has also served as the Chairman of Airlines Operators Committee, (AOC) IATA for New Delhi Airport. He has been a part of start-up teams and has thus to his credit establishing a Mega Airlines set up of Air Canada in 1993 and Kingfisher Airlines since 2005, where he is presently working as a General Manager- Airport Infrastructure and Services his responsibilities includes Airport Services, Ground Support Division, Airport Infrastructure, Planning and Project .

After starting as a baggage handler for Continental Airlines in 1978 held five airport manager jobs in the USA and Europe (Frankfurt, London-Gatwick), before moving on to four different Director positions ranging from Operations Europe, South-America / Canada, Sr. Country Director Germany and Scandinavia and Director Policy Procedures and Training in Houston during his 27 year carrier at Continental Airlines. Joined Hahn Air February 2007 with the main focus on Hahn Air’s e-alliance product, giving airlines full access through all major GDSs via the Hahn Air distribution platform. Including schedule distribution via OAG, ATPCO regular and special fare filing, full e-ticketing and payment handling capabilities. In addition integrating Airlines in the Hahn Air Interling e-ticketing product, which has now become the airline with the most IET’s in the world.

Con is an airline executive with over 17 years experience. He was Head of Strategy at Qantas prior to joining Viva Macau and was the founding Chief Executive of Jetstar Asia. He has held a number of senior executive roles in some of the region's well-known airlines, including Marketing and Loyalty Program management at Singapore Airlines; Commercial Director and CFO of Ansett International; and General Manager, Indonesia and Corporate Finance General Manager for Ansett Australia Group. As Commercial Director & CFO of Ansett, Con's team established international operations for the airlines in several Asian countries. Con holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University in Melbourne, and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Anick Léger is a Solution Partner at Sabre Airline Solutions with more than 13 years of experience in the air transport industry. Ms. Léger has extensive international consulting experience focused on airline commercial management. She has worked with numerous airlines worldwide on projects ranging from business planning to airline turnaround, alliance strategy, network and fleet planning, pricing, revenue management, distribution, sales and marketing. She holds a great interest in improving the effectiveness of traditional forecasted base revenue management in the new competitive and technologic environment. Prior to joining Sabre, Ms Léger worked for Air Canada and the Lufthansa Group.

Preeti Malik, Vice President Avalon Aviation Academy Pvt. Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary of Aptech Ltd. She has a rich experience of more than 20 years in the education business. Her stint in this business has been in various roles and has managed operations as well as front ended sales for large education houses. She headed varied functions, like Corporate Training to Human Attributes Enhancement and now Aviation Education. She has to her credit the development of a unique training methodology for numerous sectors. She has won the prestigious award “Franchisee Woman of the year ‘07” from FAI because of the success she has secured in executing franchisee operations. She has initiated the fastest and profit making franchisee network in the Aviation Education industry. This growth has also procured her felicitation from Indira Institute with the “Super Achiever” award. Preeti Malik, with her able leadership, foresight and business acumen has got Avalon Aviation Academy to a considerable size and the organization is heading at a very fast pace to take ‘Number One’ position in this Aviation and Hospitality sector.

Came from Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) in 2003 as a Colonel – Mirage F1 Commander and Chief of Tactical Training; in Sept. 2004 Capt. Basil Obeidat – CEO / GM Transworld Aviation - managed to establish, supervise and lead building a new Airliner in Jordan specialized in Cargo which is later renounced as Transworld Aviation due to introducing its passenger business as a Jordanian L.C.C. Meanwhile, Mr. Obeidat completed an MBA degree in International Business from NYIT University and participated in establishing other businesses management from which are Al-Yarmouk Mining L.L.C. specialized in mining industry, Crew Training Center and other activities in different sectors.

Graduate in Business Administration University of Frankfurt (MBA) in 1971 Start as Manager Route Planning with Lufthansa in Cologne in 1980 Promoted to Vice President Network Planning Lufthansa Worldwide Passenger Services in 1993, Frankfurt Based in Dubai 1996-1997 as Lufthansa Regional Director Passenger Services for Middle East and Pakistan Worked for Garuda Indonesia, Jakarta, as EVP Commercial and EVP Consulting 1998 - 2003 to turn round the Indonesian National Carrier Was Managing Consultant and Vice President Sales Asia for Lufthansa Consulting based in Jakarta and Singapore 2003 - Sept. 2008 Since 15.10.2008 National Aviation Services (NAS) CEO Commercial Airlines, based in Riyadh, KSA

Zaffar Razzaq has worked for Pratt & Whitney for over 21 years. Zaffar started his carrier on the technical side at P&W, developing super alloys, casting processes and ceramic coatings a number of which have been patented and are currently in use on various P&W engines. Zaffar led teams which were responsible to establish a super alloy casting facility in S. Korea and a Titanium Diffusion Bonding facility in Taiwan, these facilities have become part of the P&W MRO worldwide network which provides overhaul and repair as well as OEM parts to airline customers. Zaffar also started a logistics company for Pratt & Whitney called, Global Logistics Services, which supports parts shipments to customers around the world. Prior to his current position Zaffar was General Manager, Partnership Program Office, responsible to maintain all aspects of relationship with the largest PW4000 partner, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Zaffar has a Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University. He also holds a Masters of Metallurgy degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an Executive MBA from the University of Connecticut.

Istithmar World, the investment arm of Dubai World, has appointed Tom Ronell to the position of Chief Executive Officer of its newly-created business unit, Istithmar World Aviation Holdings. Mr. Ronell has a background in Economics from The Wharton School, has worked in maintenance & engineering at Northwest Airlines, marketing & sales at McDonnell Douglas and has held the position of Vice President of Sales for Airbus in North America. As founder and President of consultancy Ronell Aviation Services, Inc., Mr. Ronell has participated in the start-up, privatization, restructuring and management of a number of airlines around the world, as well as representing airlines, banks, leasing companies and wealthy individuals in the operation and disposition of aviation assets. He has participated in the sale, lease or purchase of over USD $50 billion worth of aircraft. Mr. Ronell has also been involved in some unusual projects such as the planning of humanitarian projects, monorail, gas pipeline, airports and resorts. A multilingual dual citizen of U.S.A. and Switzerland, Mr. Ronell has so far visited 94 countries. Istithmar World Aviation Holdings has been formed to consolidate and manage Istithmar World’s and Dubai World’s aviation investments, which include significant holdings in SpiceJet, SR Technics and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, of which Mr. Ronell participates on the Board of Directors. In addition, Dubai World’s executive jet operation, currently comprising eight aircraft and nearly fifty employees, is being brought under IWA Holdings management and rebranded as IWA Executive Jets, which IWA Holdings intends to grow into the preeminent managed aircraft, executive charter and technical services organization in the Middle East. IWA Holdings is also in the process of investing in airlines, maintenance organizations, airports and other aviation-related services around the world.

Michael Stumpf, born in 1965 in Heinsberg, Germany, studied economics specialising in foreign trade and European economic policies at the Universities in Trier and Bergamo (Italy), concluding his studies in 1995 with a Master's degree. From 1995 to 1996, he worked in the Economic Department of the Chamber of Foreign Industry and Commerce in Lisbon and Sydney as well as in the German State Ministry of Economy in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Since that time, he leaded the Economic Department of an industrial association in Bonn, Germany. From 1999 to 2005, he occupied various positions in international infrastructure projects at Lahmeyer International in Bad Vilbel. Finally, as a member of the Energy Division, he was responsible for finance and international proposal and contract management. Since July 2005 he has been leading the ECAD Research Institute. He has got a strong background in infrastructure masterplanning, Strategic Planning and Hub-and Spoke Network.

Henriette Thilert heads Revenue Management and Pricing for the Irish low-cost carrier Aer Lingus. She and her team drive the strategy and execution of revenue management and pricing at the airline. Ms Thilert joined Aer Lingus from Germanwings, the low cost carrier of the Lufthansa group, where she was head of Revenue & Pricing. Previous to this she was the head of Revenue Management at Norwegian, Scandinavia’s largest low cost carrier, where she was responsible for integration and migration to a new inventory and revenue management system. Prior to Norwegian she held various positions within the SAS Airline Group working with revenue management for both Widerøe Flyveselskap ASA and the Radisson SAS Hotel group. Ms. Thilert graduated from the University of Stavanger where she earned her bachelors degree and the University of Oslo where she has been taking graduate courses in math and statistics and received her Cand.Mag degree.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, Rudy M. Vercelli joined ADAC on 20 March 2008 and in doing so became the first CEO of ADAC, in the company’s newly created role. A proven leader with a wealth of experience in aviation, strategic business planning and having directed major airport development programs, Rudy was brought on board to spearhead the expansion of the airport infrastructure at both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain International Airports and related projects. Rudy’s experience in aviation and airport management has been developed during a highly successful career that, among many others, has seen him involved with the development and management of growing airport hubs such as: Doha, Qatar; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Bombay, India. Rudy’s most recent role, prior to joining ADAC, was as Chief Operating Officer at Bombay International Airport, a position he had held since 2006. In this role, his strategic leadership and vision brought upon change-management and allowed for the development of an efficient and effective airport company. Central to Rudy’s career success has been a strongly held commitment to set, meet and deliver on both short and long-term objectives, in line with the strategic policy of the company. Coupled with his qualities as a leader, these attributes have resulted in the realisation and development of value creation for the company’s shareholders. As CEO, Rudy is a key driving force behind the realisation of the Government of Abu Dhabi ambitions, as well as ADAC’s commercial agenda in the development of the aviation industry in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It is here that his leadership, expertise and insight are invaluable tools that will be crucial in bringing to fruition these ambitions. By joining ADAC, Rudy’s mandate is not only to play a key role in changing the future development of ADAC, but meeting the challenges of building a world class, best-in-class gateway for Abu Dhabi. In his role as CEO, he inherits and manages a phenomenal portfolio of challenges and opportunities which can be described as being at the heart of what is surely the largest, simultaneous, airport infrastructure development region in aviation history.

As Regional Vice President, Europe at InterVISTAS Consulting, John Weatherill holds responsibility for the management of projects in Europe, the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Mr. Weatherill has extensive experience in strategic airline route planning, market share modelling, route profitability forecasting and airport incentive package development. He has represented airport clients in air service presentations and incentive negotiations with airlines throughout the world. Mr. Weatherill has delivered keynote addresses on air service development, airline incentives and air bilateral policy at numerous industry events, and has led air service development workshops in the United States, South Africa, Singapore, Malta and the United Kingdom. He is a contributing author to the Air Service Development Manual for Regional Development Agencies and the Journal of Airport Management, and is a guest lecturer at Thames Valley University in London. Holding a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia, Mr. Weatherill worked with Canadian low cost carrier WestJet Airlines prior to joining InterVISTAS in 2000.

George is the president of Jet Yi Holdings, Ltd., the parent company of Yi Fei Airlines, a proposed Chinese low-cost carrier. He is also Managing Director of Waverly Capital, an investment group with offices in Dallas, USA and Beijing, China. George began his career at the Boeing Company as an aerospace engineer prior to joining the strategic assessment department responsible for business case and merger and acquisition projects. George also helped manage Boeing Ventures, an internal business incubator which grew out of Boeing Phantom Works. George earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA with High Distinction from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, where he published a case study on emerging market investing. He is a former board member of ADI Thermal Power (a distributed power technology firm) and a private pilot.