SINGAPORE, 26 June 2019: Qantas has appointed John Simeone as the airline’s new senior vice president for Asia and Papua New Guinea.
He will be based in Singapore where he will steer the commercial, financial and operational performance for Qantas across its Asian markets (excluding Japan).
He was previously head of business and government sales with extensive experience in managing Qantas’ commercial relationships.
With over 25 years of experience in the aviation industry, he has worked within network scheduling, pricing and yield, tourism development and crew operations.
He joins the team in Singapore at a time when Qantas prepares to open its expanded business lounge at Changi Airport and a new first-class lounge will follow in November.
The airline’s Airbus A380 aircraft, which fly through Singapore, is undergoing a major cabin upgrade, with the first aircraft to be in service by September.
Simeone will work with trade partners across the region in the lead up to the launch of the airline’s new distribution model in August.
“With the return of our A380 flights last March, Singapore is once again Qantas’ key hub in Asia and around half of the Qantas Group’s international capacity is dedicated to the region, up from around 30% seven years ago,” said Simeone.
“Asia is an incredibly important region to Qantas, both geographically and commercially, and I’m looking forward to working with our key partners and customers across the region when there is so much momentum and great initiatives in the pipeline.”
Qantas operates more than 140 return services per week between Asia and Australia with a mix of A380, A330, 737 and 787 aircraft. The airline also operates services between Singapore and London and with a strong partner network, offers customers seamless connections with Jetstar Asia across the region.
Former Qantas senior vice president for Asia, Benjamin Tan, has moved on after four years with the airline.