Etihad Guest appoints Yasser Al Yousuf

Yasser Al Yousuf, an Emirati national, has been appointed as the new Managing Director for Etihad Guest, Etihad Airways' award-winning loyalty program, and its partners Air Serbia, Air Seychelles and Etihad Regional.
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Effective immediately, Yasser assumes the role at a time of rapid growth in the business as Etihad Guest continues to evolve into a broad-based lifestyle programme. 

Etihad Guest is one of the existing programs within Etihad Airways’ new loyalty business, Global Loyalty, which holds majority stakes in other airline loyalty programs, including topbonus (airberlin), Jet Privilege (Jet Airways) and upon completion of the acquisition in January 2015, Mille Miglia (Alitalia). 

Yasser has a strong background in the loyalty industry having worked at Emirates Skywards, and more recently at Du. He joined Etihad Airways in 2013, and has held a number of senior roles within Etihad Guest since then, including Head of Services and Head of Coalition Partnerships. 

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways chief commercial officer, said: “Yasser has a proven track record in the industry and passion to meet the needs of the increasing number of travellers looking to gain more value from their travel experience. 

“This is a tremendous opportunity that will allow him to utilise his in-depth experience and knowledge whilst also continuing to play a leading role in the expanding loyalty business of Etihad Airways and its partners.”     

Yasser takes over from Barry Green, who moves to Global Loyalty to take on a critical new role reporting to Global Loyalty Managing Director, Darren Peisley, where he will be responsible for managing business transformation and the integration of new technology in Global Loyalty’s efforts to create a next generation loyalty platform for its current and future international business portfolio. 

Barry was one of the original team working on the Etihad Guest program throughout its design in 2005 and subsequent launch in August 2006. The program quickly established itself as one of the airline industry’s fastest-growing and most innovative loyalty programs that today boasts nearly three million members globally.