The National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance, SriLankan Airlines, has appointed Mr. Richard Nuttall as the Chief Commercial Officer (COO). Mr. Nuttall effective COO from 1st November 2021 is an aviation industry specialist with over three decades of experience and holds various senior management positions at many leading airlines and entities.
Mr. Nuttall has experience having held CEO, CCO and board member positions in entities across 5 continents, with an exceptional record of delivering turnaround and driving sustainable growth. Some of the stints of his career are; Vice President-Sales of Saudi Airlines, Executive Board Member of Skyteam airline alliance, Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer of Royal Jordanian, Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Air, Commercial Director of Kenyan Airways, a Board Member of Philippine Airlines and Vice President Sales and Marketing-Americas of Polar Air Cargo Inc.
Under his commercial leadership, Saudia Airlines initiated ‘Vision 2020,’ a project encompassing product improvement, major growth and improved profitability, which was able to achieve an overall growth of 30% in three years. During his tenure at Royal Jordanian, the Airline showed an improvement in net income by USD 80 million, achieved through his strategic leadership for senior business personnel and external consultants. Mr. Nuttall has played various advisory roles to consultancies and entities, which includes but not limited to Alvarez & Marsal and Amadeus Saudi Arabia Ltd. He joins the SriLankan family at a time that the National Carrier has embarked on a progressive journey in supporting the country’s tourism revival efforts through connectivity enhancements and promotion of destination Sri Lanka across its extensive global network, on its path to effective and sustainable business recovery.
