Air Malta has appointed Paul Sies as chief commercial officer. Mr Sies takes his position with immediate effect and will be responsible for leading all commercial activity on a day-to-day basis.

He joins Air Malta with a strong track record after having worked for over 25 years at senior management level developing businesses for large organisations including British Airways, Virgin, Centerparcs and selected Sabre airline and (online) customers.

He has successfully transformed and launched new airlines and resorts in Belgium, Kuwait, Dubai, Egypt, France, Germany, Libya, Cameroon, Tunisia and most recently in The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, England and La Réunion.

Mr Sies has been engaged by Air Malta to continue on the path of innovative commercial developments launched by Ursula Silling, who left her post at the end of last year.

“Paul brings with him a wealth of knowledge of international airline commercial business. His expertise in e-commerce, marketing, network development and turnaround management in the aviation industry will be an asset. It’s not easy to attract such talent. I’mconfident that he is the ideal candidate to continue leading the change in our commercial division and to generate new revenue streams,” said Joseph Galea, Air Malta’s acting chief executive.

Mr Sies said: “Having worked closely on several projects with Air Malta in the past, it’s really a pleasure to actually start working for the airline. I believe my wide background of turnarounds can be beneficial in working with the airline’s management to continue moving forward. It’s not every day you get the opportunity to work for a respected brand like Air Malta and get the opportunity to be part of rewriting the future. I’m really looking forward to this, partly to have the opportunity to benefit of the superb climate and surroundings.”