SAUDI ARABIA. Highly respected travel retail executive Tom Byrne has been named an Executive Vice President – Retail at Saudi Airlines Catering Company (SACC), based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Byrne has enjoyed a long and distinguished career with Aer Rianta International (ARI), most recently as General Manager of the travel retailer’s business in Auckland, New Zealand.
Established in 1981, SACC has diversified its activity to operate across inflight retail (trading as SkySales), catering and facilities management in local and regional markets. It said that Byrne would be joining a highly experienced team to support the growth of the business.
Byrne said: “I am delighted to be joining the SACC Executive team and leading SkySales. It is a very exciting time to be here, as we further develop our offer, onboard, in-store and online. We have ambitious plans, and I am looking forward to making those plans a reality. SkySales is a well-known and trusted brand withing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I am confident we can further enhance that sentiment, with a relentless focus on our customer.”
Saudi Airlines Catering Company CEO Wajdy M. Al-Ghabban said: “Under a revised three-year roadmap, SACC will not only optimise our inflight catering and other aviation-focused business lines, but also transform our retail operations to capitalise on new ecommerce opportunities. The appointment of Tom will support this transformation through his distinguished career and extensive experience in the retail sector.”
