Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has announced Ulf Hüttmeyer as its Senior Vice President Finance Equity Partners, effective April 1, 2015. Hüttmeyer, 41, joins the Abu Dhabi-based airline from airberlin where he held the position of Chief Financial Officer for the past nine years. Hüttmeyer was one of the architects of the 2011 transaction in which Etihad Airways became a minority equity investor in airberlin. The new role will see Hüttmeyer work closely with Etihad Airways' equity partner airlines, and lead the profitability analysis in Etihad Airways and build key relationships with global suppliers. James Hogan, Etihad Airways' President and Chief Executive Officer, said Hüttmeyer's experience and expertise would benefit the airline considerably: “Etihad Airways has minority equity investments in eight airlines around the world and therefore it is vital that we build strength and depth in the financial strategy team to work with these partners on maximizing the potential synergies and mutual benefits.” “Ulf brings an incredibly valuable perspective to this role which will greatly benefit Etihad Airways and our partners.” Hüttmeyer, who studied Economics and holds a degree in Business Administration, began his professional career at Commerzbank in 1996. During this time he worked at Commerzbank South East Asia in Singapore for three and a half years, after which he moved to Berlin as key account manager for the eastern region. At the beginning of 2005, Mr Hüttmeyer was appointed as a Director for Commerzbank. Hüttmeyer joined airberlin in February 2006 as Chief Financial Officer. He served as an Executive Director of Air Berlin PLC from 2006 to September 30, 2012 and was a member of the Management Board from October 2012. — SG
