Tony Douglas is a British businessman. He serves as the CEO of Riyadh Air, a Saudi Public Investment Fund subsidiary. He previously served as the CEO of Etihad Airways from January 2018 to October 2022. He also previously served as chief executive of Abu Dhabi Airports Company (2013–2015), and as chief executive of Defence Equipment and Support department in the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (2015–2017). He has also held senior positions with airport operator BAA, and as Chief Operating Officer of Laing O'Rourke.

Life

Douglas joined British Aerospace in their regional jet production facilities in 1990, became manufacturing and logistics director at Kenwood plc in 1996[1] and then joined BAA plc in 1998 becoming Group Supply Chain Director, then Group Technical Director, then Managing Director of Heathrow Terminal 5 and finally Chief Executive of Heathrow Airport.[2]

Douglas went on to be Chief Operating Officer at Laing O'Rourke in August 2007.[3] After that he became Chief Executive of the Abu Dhabi Ports Company (in which role he led the Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone project) in June 2010[4] and Chief Executive of Abu Dhabi Airports Company in 2013. He became Chief Executive of Defence Equipment and Support in September 2015. Etihad Airways announced in October 2017 that they had appointed Douglas Group Chief Executive Officer with effect from January 2018.[5][6][7]

His tenure at Etihad Airways has been focused on minimizing losses at the airline. Since his appointment as CEO, he has managed to trim the losses by reducing total costs by $416-million to $6.9-billion.[8]

In September 2022, it was reported that Douglas had accepted an offer to join the board of Riyadh Air, a planned Saudi national carrier to be based out of the capital city of Riyadh, aiming to launch operations in 2025.[9] The reports were neither confirmed nor denied by either Etihad or the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).[10] He was appointed CEO of the Saudi Public Investment Fund's Riyadh Air in March 2023.[11]

Douglas holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Lancaster University.[12]

In 2022, Tony and his Emirates Airlines counterpart applied for UAE nationality and was granted it.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Directorate Change". BAA plc. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Tony Douglas". Aerospace Summit. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Douglas quits as O'Rourke stays on". FT. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "Ex O'Rourke boss Tony Douglas takes Abu Dhabi job". Construction Enquirer. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Tony Douglas appointed Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group". Etihad Aviation Group. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "Tony Douglas, Etihad Airways: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  7. ↑ "Abu Dhabi airline Etihad gets new CEO after wealth fund ADQ's takeover". Reuters. 19 October 2022.
  8. ↑ McGinley, Shane. "Plane talking: Etihad boss Tony Douglas". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  9. ↑ Hepher, Tim (19 June 2023). "Riyadh Air CEO says airlines that ignore sustainability will fail". Reuters.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  10. ↑ Bailey, Joanna (23 September 2022). "Etihad Searching For New CEO As Tony Douglas To Lead Saudi Arabian Startup RIA". Simpleflying.com. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  11. ↑ Public Investment Fund (12 March 2023). "HRH Crown Prince Announces "Riyadh Air" New National Carrier to Further Expand Saudi Aviation Ecosystem Locally and Globally".
  12. ↑ "Tony Douglas". www.etihadaviationgroup.com. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  13. ↑ "Former Real Madrid footballer among those issued expat UAE passports". InternationalInvestment. 5 May 2021.
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