Cramer Ball, currently the Abu Dhabi-based airline’s country manager for Australia, will become regional general manager for Asia Pacific South and Australasia, while Joost den Hartog, the country manager for Pakistan and acting country manager for China, will become regional general manager for the Indian sub-continent, central and north Asia.

Both will be based in Bangkok and will take up their positions from 1 June, reporting to the airline's vice-president of sales Adrian Parkes.

The appointments reflect Etihad’s recent focus on its Asian network, with the airline recently launching direct flights to Beijing. Four new destinations in India - Madras, Jaipur, Calcutta, and Calicut - will be added to the network in 2008, and the company has announced plans to fly to Almaty in Kazakhstan from December.