Media Information

September 30, 2011

Cathay Pacific Appoints New Country Manager For New Zealand

Ken Chiu has been appointed Country Manager for Cathay Pacific Airways in New Zealand, succeeding David Figgins who retires today after 37 years working for Cathay Pacific, most of which time was spent in the role of Country Manager.

Ken Chiu’s most recent role was as Southern China regional manager for the Cathay Pacific group. During his two year stint there he was responsible for overseeing Dragonair flights to Fuzhou, Sanya in Hainan Island and Guilin, as well as Cathay Pacific’s freighter service to Xiamen.

Hong Kong born Ken did his undergraduate degree in the United States at the University of Oregon, Eugene. On returning to Hong Kong from the US he worked briefly as an IT consultant before undertaking full time study again to gain his MBA at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

In 2004 Ken joined Cathay Pacific as a management trainee working firstly in the eBusiness department after which he spent a year in the Philippines working as assistant to the country manager in Manila. On his return to Hong Kong he was appointed assistant to the General Manager in In-flight Services before moving to a planning role at Cathay Pacific’s Cargo Head Office. During his time there he helped to establish the successful freighter service to Miami/Houston, while also working in a planning role on new freighter services to Jakarta, Saigon, Hanoi and Dhaka.

Ken says he is honoured to be the first expatriate manager for Cathay Pacific in New Zealand.

“I am aware that I have big shoes to fill as David Figgins has been such a well known identity in the travel and aviation industries in New Zealand. I also realise that my role is going to be challenging as New Zealand is a very mature market while China has been experiencing rapid growth, particularly during the past two years.

“However, I am delighted to be working with a very senior and experienced team and I am excited to have the opportunity to live and work in New Zealand in my first role as Country Manager for Cathay Pacific Airways.”

ends

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