UAE Dubai World Central

06 September 2010

The six key people involved in the development of Dubai’s new aviation and logistics hub: Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, Rashed Buqara’a, Michael Canon, Khalifa Suhail al-Zaffin, Robert Andrews and Mohsen al-Awadhi

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum

Position President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority

Biography Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum became president of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in 1985. That year, Dubai’s carrier Emirates Airline was launched with Sheikh Ahmed as its chairman. He is now both the chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline Group, which also includes Dnata, the travel services and ground handling company. Under Sheikh Ahmed, the DCA underwent a restructuring in April 2007, which resulted in the creation of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) and Dubai Airports as the owner and operator of Dubai’s airports. Sheikh Ahmed is president of the DCAA and chairman of Dubai Airports. He supervised the launch of Flydubai in 2009. Sheikh Ahmed holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver, in the US.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4 814 1111

Rashed Buqara’a

Position Chief operating officer

Biography Rashed Buqara’a has been an active contributor to the development of aviation infrastructure in Dubai. Between 1994 and 2006 he worked on a number of utilities and infrastructure development and operation-related roles at Dubai airport. He later became senior general manager of utilities and infrastructure. In 2006, Buqara’a was appointed as the chief executive officer of DuServe, the infrastructure and facilities management arm of DWC. Since 2009, Buqara’a became chief operating officer where he is responsible for overseeing all the business units of DWC, including logistics, aviation, real estate, free zone operations, facilities management and IT services. Buqara’a is a founding board member of the Dubai Logistics Corridor, which is aimed at strengthening Dubai’s position as a logistics hub. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Boston University in the US.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4 814 1111

Michael Canon

Position Chief commercial officer

Biography Michael Canon serves as the chief commercial officer of DWC. He is responsible for the company’s worldwide sales and marketing operations including the design and implementation of all strategies, policies and processes. Canon leads DWC’s efforts for strategy and planning, sales programmes for real estate, logistics, aviation and marketing programmes, brand developments, business development and customer service. He is also responsible for the company’s corporate communications, public relations and regulatory affairs. Before joining DWC, Canon led two private land development companies in the US and started operations for DHL in Spain, Columbia, Argentina and Brazil. He served as president of the DHL Brazilian subsidiary for 18 years where he founded Procomex, the multi-industry government partnership. Canon has a masters in international management.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4 814 1111

Khalifa Suhail al-Zaffin

Position Director of engineering and projects

Biography Khalifa al-Zaffin graduated from the US’ Arizona State University with a bachelor’s of science degree in chemical engineering. He began his career at Dubai Aluminium Company in 1984 where he worked as a senior project engineer. Al-Zaffin then moved to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in May 1989 where he worked as assistant director of engineering. In 1991 he was promoted to director of engineering and projects and has retained this position ever since. Together with Sheikh Ahmed, Al-Zaffin is heavily involved with the execution of the $4.1bn airports expansion plan. This includes the construction of concourse three at terminal 3 and the planned expansion of terminal two at Dubai International airport. Al-Zaffin was also chairman of the DCA executive board from 2003 to 2004. He is currently a member of several boards, including Dubai World Trade Centre, Cleveland Bridge and Deyaar.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4 814 1111

Robert Andrews

Position Vice president of operations

Biography Robert Andrews has extensive experience with distribution, cargo and aviation operations. He spent 27 years with Deutsche Post DHL in a variety of senior operational roles. He ran all customer service, distribution, import/export and aviation operations in Brazil, Japan and China. Andrews was also instrumental in establishing gateways and hubs in Sao Paulo, Bangkok, Tokyo, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. After leaving Deutsche Post DHL, Andrews ran the global operations for Flash Global Logistics, which specialises in service parts logistics and operates a network of more than 700 warehouses across 55 countries serving brands such as Motorola, GE and Dell. Andrews joined DWC in October 2009 and serves as vice president of operations. The first phase of DWC, which is Al-Maktoum International airport opened officially in July for cargo operations.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4 814 1111

Mohsen al-Awadhi

Position Head of operational development

Biography Mohsen al-Awadhi is the head of operational development for DWC. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the operational development of the hub and finding solutions for customers at DWC. Al-Awadhi’s career began at Al-Futtaim Logistics in 2000 where he worked as a transport planner. He moved to Dubai Aluminium Company in 2002, where he took up the position of head of inbound logistics. His career at DWC began in 2008 when he became general manager of Dubai Logistics City. Al-Awadhi holds a bachelor’s degree in logistics and transportation from the University of Tennessee. He also has a master’s in logistics and supply chain management from Cranfield School of Management in the UK. Al-Awadhi is a chartered member of the UK’s Institute of Logistics and Transportation and is a board and council member for the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transportation in the UAE.

Contact Tel: (+971) 4 814 1111

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