James Hogan was appointed President and Chief Executive of Etihad Airways on 10 September 2006, bringing more than 30 years of travel industry expertise to the Abu Dhabi-based airline.
He has overseen rapid growth of the UAE’s national airline, which now serves 87 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America operating a fleet of 66 modern environmentally friendly aircraft.
In July 2008, he signed one of the largest aircraft orders in history for up to 205 aircraft worth approximately US$43 billion at list prices, to meet the airline’s ambitious long-term growth plans.
CEO Magazine named him Aviation CEO of the Year in 2008 and Visionary of the Year in 2010.
James started his career in 1975 at Ansett Airlines, and subsequently held senior positions with bmi, Hertz, Forte Hotels and Gulf Air.
At Hertz, his roles included directorships of the marketing, sales and operations divisions. In 1995, based in London, he joined the executive management committee as Vice President, Marketing & Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
In 1997, James became service director for bmi British Midland, leaving in 1998 to join the Granada Group as worldwide sales director, where he sat on the board of Forte Hotels.
He returned to bmi in 1999 as chief operating officer. There he was responsible for flight and ground operations, sales and marketing, commercial, cargo, engineering and handling service companies, and was a member of the Board.
James moved back to his native Australia in 2001, where he was appointed chief executive of the Tesna consortium, which was created with the aim of acquiring Ansett Airlines from administration, before joining Gulf Air in 2002, where he served as chief executive for four years.
James is a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a former non-executive director, and member of the Board’s Audit Committee, of Gallaher Plc. In 2010, he served as the chairman of the Aviation Travel and Tourism Governors at the World Economic Forum.
He currently serves as vice chairman on the Executive Committee of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors. Following the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Air Berlin plc, in December 2011, he was named as vice chairman of the airline.