Alexander Arafa has been appointed head of global area management at Swiss WorldCargo, to take over on 1 June.
Arafa is currently head of cabin crew at SWISS, a position he has held since 2008. He is taking over from Ashwin Bhat, who became head of cargo last October. In his role as head of global area management, Arafa will be responsible for worldwide sales of Swiss WorldCargo products and services.
SWISS chief executive officer, Thomas Kluhr says: “We are delighted to have appointed a proven executive from within our own ranks to this important position.”
“In addition to his extensive sales expertise from his earlier carrier, Alexander also brings the ideal credentials to his new post through the eight years he has spent as the head of our cabin crew corps.”
Bhat says: “We are pleased to welcome Alexander Arafa to Swiss WorldCargo. Alexander’s strong commercial expertise, vast experience and personality, will perfectly complement our current skill set and Swiss WorldCargo culture.”
Arafa, a 55-year-old German/Egyptian dual citizen, started working in aviation as an accounting analyst at Northwest Airlines in 1983, followed by stints at Olympic Airways and American Airlines, before joining Lufthansa in 1993. He has worked at SWISS since it was Swissair in 1999.