Head of Strategic Airline Partnerships & Alliances

The Head of Strategic Airline Partnerships & Alliances leads partnership strategy, negotiations, implementation and optimisation to expand the network and create commercial value. Working with senior leaders across airline functions, this role secures new agreements, strengthens existing relationships and develops opportunities across passenger travel, loyalty, cargo and operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the airline-partnership strategy in line with wider commercial objectives.
• Identify, evaluate and secure joint ventures, codeshares, interline agreements, capacity arrangements and other partnership models.
• Strengthen existing airline relationships and identify opportunities to deepen cooperation.
• Lead complex commercial negotiations and obtain internal approval for major partnership investments.
• Build robust business cases and present recommendations to executive and Board-level stakeholders.
• Establish governance and performance practices to ensure partnerships deliver agreed commercial outcomes.
• Coordinate with Revenue Management, Network Planning, Sales, Marketing, Loyalty, Cargo, Operations, Finance and Legal.
• Expand opportunities beyond passenger revenue into loyalty, cargo, ancillary products and operational collaboration.
• Track commercial and profitability measures and use findings to optimise partnership performance.

Requirements and Qualifications

• At least 12 years of industry experience with significant leadership experience in aviation.
• Deep expertise in airline alliances, partnerships, joint ventures, codeshares or network-cooperation agreements.
• Additional experience in one or more commercial areas, such as Revenue Management, Network Planning, Sales, Commercial Strategy or Pricing.
• Demonstrated success in complex negotiations and commercially valuable agreements.
• Experience preparing business cases, influencing senior executives and maintaining global airline relationships.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills and the ability to combine strategic thinking with execution.

Key Skills

Airline alliances, strategic partnerships, commercial negotiation, business-case development, network cooperation, performance governance and executive stakeholder leadership.

Employment Details

• Company: Etihad
• Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• Employment Type: Full Time