Executive Vice President for Air France Africa and the Middle East, Jean-Marie Mariani, presided over a cocktail-reception at the Hilton Dubai, Jumeira, to bid farewell to the out-going General Manager of Air France in the Middle East based in Dubai Robert-Jean Poncet, and to welcome his successor Bernard Bazot.
Bazot, Air France's new General Manager first joined Air France in 1973 and had the opportunity of working in several fields of the company including Cargo, Sales and Marketing and in different parts of the world, notably in Beirut and Jeddah but also in Brazil, Colombia, New York city and lately in Marseille as General Manager of South Eastern France.
In spite of difficult times in the region for Air transportation, Air France has consolidated its activity in the Middle East with an overall growth of 8.6 percent of its traffic in the area since November 2001.
In total, Air France operates flights from Paris to eight airports in the Middle East, the major routes being Dubai , Cairo with daily flights and Beirut with three daily flights in cooperation with MEA.
After opening an additional frequency this winter to Riyadh and Jeddah with four weekly flights, Air France will consider new developments for the IATA summer season of 2003 provided global demand allows it. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
