Mounir Seifeddine joined Lebanese flag carrier Middle East Airlines in 1998 as advisor to the Chairman. He subsequently became Head of In-Flight and Catering Purchases in 2001, before being named Director of Purchasing in June 2016.
Mounir holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Rennes in France, where he began his career as an export manager in an F&B company.
At MEA he has managed the inflight retail business with great success, positioning it as an essential part of the service on board and achieving one of the highest levels of sales per passenger in the global airline business.
One of the world’s oldest airlines, MEA recently celebrated its 70th anniversary.
Haitham Al Majali is the CEO of Jordanian Duty Free Shops – a Jordanian public shareholders company which was founded in 1997 and operates sixteen duty free, land border and seaport outlets.
Haitham is one of the founders of JDF, and is also a Board Member and shareholder. He was elected President of the Middle East & Africa Duty Free Association (MEADFA) in 2017.
In addition to his roles with JDF and MEADFA, Haitham is a Chairman and/or Board Member of several companies in Jordan.
Haitham earned his engineering degree from Cardiff University in South Wales, UK.
Dermot Davitt is one of the most experienced editors and commentators working in the travel retail media.
He joined The Moodie Report in April 2006 as Deputy Publisher, becoming President (and Co-owner) of The Moodie Davitt Report from August 2015. The company is today part of UK-based publishing and events business Mark Allen Group.
Davitt plays a key management role across the company’s operations, from its flourishing Print Division to the industry’s leading business intelligence website, www.MoodieDavittReport.com, The Moodie Davitt e-Zine and other titles.
Based in Galway, Ireland, Dermot is also a highly experienced conference moderator. He has chaired and moderated many of the travel retail industry’s leading events over the years, including The Trinity Forum, the Airport Food & Beverage Conference & Awards, the MEADFA Conference, the TFWA Asia Pacific Conference, the Nordic Travel Retail Seminar and many others.
Bernard is a qualified Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 30 years of experience living and working in Ireland, Scotland, Bahrain, Dubai, the Dutch Antilles and the United States.
His career has seen him work in the textile manufacturing, mobile telecommunications, private practice and the travel retail business. Bernard has over 16 years’ experience working in the duty-free industry, having previously worked for Bahrain Duty Free (1998-2001) and for Dubai Duty Free (2001-2007). Bernard returned to Dubai Duty Free in May 2010 to head up the Finance Department as Finance Controller and was named Senior Vice President – Finance (Retail & Leisure) in July 2016.
In addition to his CPA qualification, Bernard holds a Masters in Business Administration and is currently carrying out Doctoral studies in airport retailing. In October 2013, Bernard was elected Chairman of The Irish Business Council in Dubai, a position he held for two years.
