SITA names new president for Americas: SITA announced the appointment of Matthys Serfontein as President, Americas. Serfontein returns to SITA after a two-year hiatus to drive SITA’s growth in the Americas, where travel has rebounded sharply in the wake of the pandemic. Serfontein will be key to bringing SITA’s vision of greater agility, efficiency, and sustainability to the air transport industry through digitalisation. Serfontein has many years of experience in the aviation sector addressing portfolio and business development, previously having served as President of Air Travel Solutions at SITA, where he oversaw the development of SITA’s airport and border solutions. Prior to that he served as Regional Vice President for Airport Solutions in Africa. Before joining SITA, he held several senior management positions at Airports Company South Africa, e.Airports Ltd, and OSI Airport Systems. David Lavorel CEO, SITA said: “I’m delighted to welcome Matthys back on board. SITA has invested in new solutions that help our customer airports and airlines optimise the passenger experience, maximise efficiency, and keep both environmental and financial sustainability at the heart of their operations. The Americas team, under Matthys’s stewardship, will help bring these exciting benefits to customers in the region.” Serfontein said: “As travelers return to the skies, our customers are eyeing digitalisation as the key to returning to growth while meeting the new expectations of today’s passenger. With its innovative portfolio, SITA is uniquely positioned to support them. SITA has been, and continues to be, a trusted partner to the industry, and I look forward to this new opportunity to build on our exciting partnerships with customers in the Americas.”
Elenium appoints supply chain, sustainability head: Elenium has appointed Ralf Weber as Head of Supply Chain and Sustainability, to ensure the company is well positioned as the aviation sector ramps up following a near-total shutdown during the height of the COVID pandemic. Weber joins Elenium as the business welcomes an upswing in the aviation sector following nearly two years of COVID restrictions. He brings over 30 years of experience in senior logistics and supply chain with previous roles at Invetech and MiniFAB, and is passionate about delivering business success through continuous improvement, strategic supply chain management and applying standard work. “While airlines are coming back online and freight routes have eased somewhat, our efforts continue to focus on planning to avoid component shortages in our production process so we can get products out the door to our customers,” Weber said. “My priority will be ensuring we deliver on promises to our customers whilst better integrating supply chain into the various business areas at Elenium.” Elenium was recently recognised in Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Travel Companies for 2022. It received special mention for its work with Etihad Airways on a white label self-service technology, which allows passengers to check in and provide health information—body temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate.
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