Sarah Branquinho is an active advocate for the duty-free and travel retail industry, and the key dual role it plays in enhancing transport infrastructure and the passenger experience. She is President of the European Travel Retail Confederation, the representative organisation for the duty free and travel retail industry in Europe, Chair of the UK Travel Retail Forum and a member of the Board of the Duty Free World Council. Sarah was also recently elected to the ACI World Business Partners Advisory Board.
With thirty years of experience in the duty free industry at TFWA, then managing the consumer mobilisation programme and the ambitious research projects which underpinned the lobby to save intra-EU duty free, Sarah joined BAA and its retail company World Duty Free where her remit for business relationships and external affairs grew with the company. With World Duty Free’s recent acquisition by Dufry AG, the overall business now accounts for one in every four travel retail sales worldwide.
Since November 2011 Kjeld Binger has been responsible for the operational management and delivery of the new US$1.2 billion terminal of the Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan’s capital city, Amman. Kjeld has 18 years of experience in the airport sector. In his capacity as Executive Vice President of Copenhagen Airports he oversaw the transformation of CPH to a major regional hub, and as CEO of Copenhagen Airports International, he acquired and operated a successful portfolio of 11 airports globally. His other positions include Chairman and CEO of ASUR Mexico and CEO of DAE Airports, as well as membership of the boards of various airport companies.
Kjeld’s areas of expertise include business planning, acquisition and operational management of existing facilities as well as development of green- and brown-field airports. His main focus has been on the development of necessary infrastructure and commercial facilities to supply capacity in due time, constantly taking into account the strong correlation between market development and necessary supply of quality capacity at competitive rates.
Kjeld graduated from the Technical University in Odense, Denmark in 1980, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and Structural Engineering. He has two adult daughters, and enjoys spending his leisure time scuba diving and supporting causes related to oceanic conservation.
Akbar Al Baker has been instrumental in shaping the development of Qatar Airways into one of the fastest growing and most highly acclaimed airlines in the world – named Airline of the Year 2012, for the second consecutive year, by global industry audit Skytrax.
Born in Doha, he is a graduate in Economics and Commerce and worked at various levels in the Civil Aviation Directorate before becoming Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer in 1997.
Mr Al Baker has spearheaded the growth of Qatar Airways, which operated only four aircraft in a regional capacity prior to his appointment. Qatar Airways currently flies more than 120 aircraft to over 125 destinations across six continents.
He is also leading the development of Doha’s new multi-billion dollar Hamad International Airport, which is scheduled to open in phases this year.
Mr Al Baker is a member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO), a member of the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is a non-executive Director of Heathrow Airport Holdings.
A highly motivated individual, Mr. Al Baker has been a successful businessman in Doha for more than 25 years, holds a private pilot licence, and is also CEO of several divisions of Qatar’s national airline – these being Qatar Airways Holidays, Qatar Aviation Services, Qatar Duty Free, Doha International Airport, Qatar Distribution Company, Qatar Executive, Oryx Rotana Hotel and Qatar Aircraft
