Former President and CEO of Scandinavian Ground Services, Björn Alegren, joined Nyras as a Senior Associate in December, 2008. He had led the wholly-owned SAS subsidiary – the largest airline ground handling company in Northern Europe – since September 2007.

After serving in the Swedish Air Force and completing university education, Björn was recruited to SAS in 1973 and went on to build a long-term, successful career with the group. Early positions included Project Manager for the new Terminal 2 at Arlanda Airport, Manager OPS Center and Station Manager Stockholm. Björn served overseas as General Manager, respectively in Portugal, the USA, Japan and Germany. In these posts he was responsible for overall sales & marketing; customer service; line maintenance; and cargo operations. While in Japan, he created and implemented a new organisation and operation for SAS. In Germany, Björn was responsible for integrating SAS organisation with Lufthansa. He was subsequently appointed Director & Regional Manager Eastern Europe where he opened new markets for SAS in Russia and Poland.

Björn was then promoted to the position of Vice-President SAS International, responsible for all the carrier’s activities and organisation outside Scandinavia. He later became Vice-President Europe, Middle East & Africa based in Frankfurt.

Björn also served as President & CEO of the subsidiary European Aeronautical Group and after its divestment in 2005 was appointed Vice-President Corporate Purchasing & Chief Procurement Officer – SAS Group. He now works with Nyras from his Stockholm base.

Former Deputy CEO of Finnair Plc, Henrik Arle joined Nyras as a Senior Associate in April, 2009.

He retired from Finnair at the end of 2008 after 30 years of service with the airline. During that time, he held a wide range of senior management positions, including Company Lawyer, Finance Director, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President, Scheduled Passenger Traffic. Among many notable business achievements, Henrik was responsible for negotiating the acquisition of FlyNordic and leading its transformation into a leading Swedish low-cost carrier, before the company was sold to Norwegian Air System in 2007. He also represented Finnair as a Director of the Oneworld Alliance Management Company.

A lawyer by profession, Henrik began his career as an attorney, later becoming a stockbroker and headed the Trustee Department of Helsinki Savings Bank. In addition to his native Finnish, he speaks Swedish, French, German and Russian.

Henrik is graduate of Finland’s Classic Lyceum; and gained a Master of Laws degree from Helsinki University. He now works with Nyras from his Helsinki base.

Neil Burrows is a seasoned air transport veteran, having spent his entire career in aviation.  He became a Senior Associate with Nyras in 2011.

Starting out as a UK RAF pilot, he left the military to join civil aviation in 1974.  Since then he has been employed in many branches of the industry including scheduled, charter and low-cost airlines, VIP flying for a Middle East head of state, and regulatory control as a UK CAA flight operations inspector.  For most of his career he has had management roles, firstly in flight operations and since 2000 as MD/CEO and board member.

Currently an independent aviation and management consultant, Neil Burrows advises corporate clients and individuals across a wide spectrum of business.

Mr Burrows last industry position was as CE0 of Brussels Airlines, the Belgian successor to Sabena.  During his time with the airline he was responsible for merging SN Brussels Airlines with Virgin Express to form a single entity operating some 45 aircraft to over 85 destinations in Europe and Africa.  Prior to this he spent 7 years as Managing Director and then CEO of Virgin Express, the Virgin Group European low-cost airline based in Brussels.

In the late 1990s, Mr Burrows’ assignments included the establishment of Alitalia’s B767 fleet as a wet lease operation through Ansett Worldwide and a spell as a full-time operations consultant to Qatar Airways during its early stages of growth.

For the 8 years before this, he had held the position of Director Flight Operations with the UK charter airline Air 2000 from its inception through to a fleet 20 aircraft.

From 1980 Mr Burrows spent 5 years with the UK regulatory authority as a CAA senior inspector.  He left in 1985 to join the Private Flight of the President of the UAE as a captain..

From leaving the UK RAF until 1980, Mr Burrows was employed as a pilot, mainly on cargo operations, rising to the level of training captain.  Management duties aside, he maintained his pilot qualifications to complete an active flying career of 37 years and operated a wide variety of aircraft including B737, B757, B767 and A320.

A former Senior Vice-President with Alitalia, Luca Ciarlini has more than 20 years experience in senior airline management, covering key areas such as network planning and scheduling; production co-ordination and integration; flight and ground operations control and management; and customer service and marketing. His last position with Alitalia, before joining Nyras in 2006, was SVP Quality & Passenger Service, where he was responsible for delivery and quality control of both in-flight and ground customer service, including the management of 4,300 cabin crew members. Luca had previously been SVP Operations, responsible (with a budget of 1.5 billion euros) for managing Alitalia’s airports network; line maintenance and engineering; air traffic management; flight deck and cabin crew rostering; flight scheduling; and fleet planning. He was notably responsible for developing the network architecture for the airline’s Fiumicino and Linate hubs and for re-designing Alitalia’s global network to incoporate the new Malpensa airport.

Prior to his career with Alitalia, Luca was with Mobil Oil Italy and the Parmenide Consultancy. He holds a degree ‘summa cum laude’ in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rome (La Sapienza) and from George Washington University, USA. He is fluent in Italian and English, with conversational French and German.

Tim Claydon, the New York-based air transport commercial specialist – and former Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing for JetBlue Airways – joined Nyras as a senior associate in May, 2009.

Among other activities, Tim currently serves as Commercial Advisor to AirAsia X, the long-haul, low-cost carrier. He played a leading role in launching the airline’s intercontinental service between the UK and Malaysia in March 2009.

Immediately prior to his work with AirAsia X, Tim was Marketing Advisor to the British Airways Open Skies subsidiary which inaugurated all-business class flights between Europe and the USA in 2008.

He began his career in 1983 with the former UK airline, Dan-Air Services, before joining the London-based sales team of Japan Air Lines.

Tim joined Virgin Atlantic Airways as Sales Manager, London and Southeast England in 1988. After five years in this role, he was transferred by Virgin to the USA where he served initially as Manager, Corporate Sales and rose through various senior appointments to become Vice-President, Sales & Marketing –North America.

Between 1999 and 2001, Tim worked with Expedia Inc., the Microsoft travel subsidiary, as Senior Manager – Supplier Relations, before being recruited by JetBlue Airways as Senior Vice-President, Sales & Distribution and later appointed SVP Sales & Marketing. Tim left JetBlue in 2007, after six years with the airline, to set up his own consultancy service, OLAS Aviation.

A former Head of Communications with British Airways, Tony Cocklin is concerned with both internal and external communications for the air transport, travel and tourism industries. Since joining Nyras in 2007, Tony served as a member of the Nyras team which conducted the sale of GB Airways to easyJet PLC, advising GB Airways owners and senior manager on communications requirements. After beginning his career in journalism, going on to specialise in the coverage of commercial aviation, he entered the industry as Public Relations Manager for the former British Caledonian Airways (BCAL), later becoming Head of Public Affairs for the airline and special adviser to its chairman, the late Sir Adam Thomson. After the take-over of BCAL by British Airways in 1988, Tony was invited to join BA as senior General Manager, Public Affairs. He went on to become Head of Communications and served as special adviser to BA’s former chairman, Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge.

After leaving British Airways in 2005, Tony became a communications consultant to VisitBritain, the government agency responsible for tourism promotion; and also to British Mediterranean Airways (BMED). A journalist by profession, he is a former chairman of the Aviation Club of the UK and of the Airline Public Relations Organisation (APRO).

Former Head of Commercial Strategy at Aer Lingus, Maurice Coleman, joined the Nyras team as a senior associate in 2006. Since then, his airline industry experience in strategic planning, information technology and commercial development has assisted a number of clients. Maurice’s career with Aer Lingus involved a range of senior management positions, including Head of Network Management; Head of Revenue and Planning; Technical Marketing Manager and Pricing Manager. As Head of Commercial Strategy he played a key leadership role in the work of repositioning Aer Lingus as a low-cost, low-fares carrier with particular responsibility for direct sales strategy and GDS relations. He also led Aer Lingus’s alliance strategy and was a member of the oneworld governing board.

Maurice holds a BA Hons. Degree in Economics, Politics and Statistics; and a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Based in Rome, Enrico Foresti has a deep background in air transport commerce with particular expertise in revenue and yield management; business and financial modelling; and the commercial application of information technology. He served 14 years in various management positions with Alitalia, including Revenue Manager, Europe and Yield Manager, Intercontinental. Enrico also worked for Alitalia Airport, Italy’s biggest ground handling contractor, where he had responsibility for sales, marketing and business development. Prior to becoming associated with Nyras in 2006, he was Chief Information Officer for Air One SpA, the second largest Italian carrier.

Before entering commercial aviation with Alitalia, Enrico had been a systems analyst with CISET SpA (aviation and space technology) and an officer with Italy’s Department of Defence (Navy). He has a degree (‘summa cum laude’) in Mathematics from the University of Rome (La Sapienza) and an MBA from SDA Bocconi, Milan. Enrico is fluent in Italian and English.

One of Britain’s most respected business leaders, Sir Michael Hodgkinson is the former Chief Executive of the principal UK airport operator, BAA plc.

After graduating from Nottingham University with an honours degree in Industrial Economics in 1965, he began his business career in the automotive industry with Ford. In 1970, Sir Michael was recruited by British Leyland where he spent 13 years, rising to become Managing Director of Land Rover/Range Rover. He then moved to Grand Metropolitan plc, becoming Chief Executive Officer of group’s European Food Division.

Sir Michael joined BAA plc In January, 1992 as Group Airports Director, responsible for the management of London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton airports, as well as the company’s overseas airport interests. He was appointed overall Chief Executive Officer of BAA plc in October 1999.

On retiring in 2003, Sir Michael took up several non-executive director posts, including Chairmanship of First Choice Holidays plc and Post Office Ltd. He is currently a non-executive Director of Dublin Airport Authority; a Board member of Transport for London; a non-executive Director of Crossrail Ltd and Deputy Chairman of Tui Travel plc.

Sir Michael was knighted in the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to the air travel industry.

Based in Germany, Dr. Graham Hill is an internationally-acclaimed expert in customer relations management (CRM). He joined Nyras as a senior Associate in April, 2010.

Graham has been at the forefront of CRM development for more than 20 years, with specific expertise in the areas of Customer Value Management, Customer Lifecycle Management, Loyalty Management and Customer Experience Management.

After graduating from London University with a BSc degree and from Edinburgh University with a PhD (doctorate), Graham joined British Airways as an Operations Research Analyst in the airline’s Informational Management group. In addition to working on computerised flight scheduling programmes, he was involved in development of the staff motivational phase of the change management programme which led to BA’s successful privatisation.

Graham subsequently left BA to join Pricewaterhouse Coopers Consulting where he rose to become a Principal Consultant in the CRM, Aviation and Telecoms practice.

In the air transport sector, he has directed and managed major, long-term CRM assignments for Lufthansa, South African Airways, American Airlines, Singapore Airlines and SAS.

At the same time, Graham has served as CRM consultant to Toyota Europe and acted for a while as Interim Head of CRM for Toyota Financial Services. He has also worked in the banking sector, notably on the reorganisation of Barclaycard.

In telecommunications, Graham has served clients such as Telfort, the Dutch mobile operator; Huawei, the Chinese equipment manufacturer; Vodafone’s Greek operating company; O2, the UK mobile operator; ERA GSM of Poland; Mobilkom Austria; Telecom Eireann; BellSouth International; and Swisscom.

Graham is much in demand as a speaker at CRM conferences and has written numerous articles and papers on CRM issues, He is the resident Customer Value Management guru at CRMGuru, the leading independent CRM portal.

Graham is fluent in German as well as his native English.

Tim Jordan, former Chief Commercial Officer for Philippines-based Cebu Pacific Air, joined Nyras as a Senior Associate in July, 2009.  Based in New South Wales, Australia, he brings 20 years’ air transport experience -  notably in low-cost airline operations across the Asia/Pacific region – to the Nyras team.

Initially employed as a consultant to plan the transformation of Cebu Pacific into a Filipino low-cost carrier, he was appointed Chief Commercial Officer in October 2005. In this role he was responsible for all commercial activity, including product creation, fleet planning, network development, scheduling, pricing, revenue management, sales, marketing and retail distribution. Tim managed a team of 400 people and generated annual revenues of more than US$400 million.

A management accountant by profession, Tim began his aviation career in 1989 with the UK carrier, Novair International Airways. A year later, he joined United Air Lines as UK accountant rising through various senior posts over the next six years to become International Route Planning Manager, based at United’s Chicago headquarters.

In 1998, Tim was recruited to the Global Aviation Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers led at the time by Nyras founder and Chief Executive, Richard Davey. With PWC, he worked on a wide range of major world-wide assignments, with particular emphasis on air transport development in Asia.

He became Head of Commercial Distribution for Virgin Blue (Australia) in January 2002; and was appointed Chief Commercial Officer Designate for Virgin Blue (Macau-PRC) two years later.  He joined Cebu Pacific as special consultant in July 2005.

Tim now operates from his base in New South Wales, Australia.

One of the airline industry’s acknowledged experts in revenue management, Ray Lyons is the former General Manager, Revenue Management & Pricing for British Airways; and Executive Vice President, Network Management, for Swissair. He began his career with British Airways serving in a number of positions across the airline in both the commercial and operational areas. Ray was responsible for the airline’s revenue management and pricing before being head hunted to join Swissair in 1997. He was recruited back to British Airways five years later.

With Nyras, Ray has been involved in an assignment to review the commercial organisation, processes and activities of a major European airline and making recommendations for revenue enhancement and cost-efficiency improvement. He holds a BSc (First Class Honours) in Applied Chemistry from the University of Sheffield Hallam; and an MSc in Operations Research from the University of Hull.

Former UK and Central Europe Chief Executive for DHL Express, Chris Muntwyler, joined Nyras as Senior Associate in September 2009.

Over a distinguished career in the international civil aviation, tourism, IT and transportation/logistics industries, Chris has gained special recognition for business transformation achievement and the effective management of high-profile corporate mergers. Since June, 2009, he has served as Special Advisor to 3i Group plc and represents the UK-based private equity firm on the Board of Swiss aircraft manufacturer, Pilatus Aircraft Ltd.

He began his career in 1972 with Swissair, as Manager, Cargo Marketing and Sales Promotion for the Middle East and Far East. Chris rose through a series of further commercial management positions in Switzerland and overseas to become Swissair’s General Manager, Marketing & Sales, North America, in 1986.

In 1990, he was recalled to Zurich to spearhead the airline’s corporate re-organisation programme as Executive Project Leader, reporting directly to the Chairman and Chief Executive. Chris was subsequently appointed to the post of General Manager, Pricing and Global Distribution.

He was promoted to Vice-President and Chief Information Officer in 1996; and a year later became Vice-President, Global Distribution, responsible for Revenue Management, Pricing, Aircraft Optimisation and development of the web platform.

In 1999, Chris was recruited as Managing Director for DHL Worldwide Express in Switzerland. After achieving a successful business turnaround, he was appointed Managing Director for DHL in Germany, with responsibility for business transformation in preparation for the merger with Deutsche Post Express.

Chris became Chief Executive of DHL, Central Europe, in 2003, overseeing the merger and integration of DHL Express, Danzas and Deutsche Post as a single corporate entity.

Two years later, he was appointed Chief Executive for the larger DHL Express UK operation, leading a large-scale business turnaround and corporate integration. During Chris’s three-year leadership, DHL Express UK was named ‘Best Express Company’ in two consecutive annual consumer polls. While in the UK, he served on the prestigious Confederation of British Industry (CBI) President’s Committee.

Following his studies in Zurich, Chris went on to undertake various post-graduate studies at West London College; IMD Lausanne; and Harvard, Wharton and Stanford universities in the USA. He speaks English, German, French and Swedish.

Former Senior Vice President with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Tom Murphy joined Nyras as a Senior Associate in April, 2010.

A seasoned executive with almost 40 years experience in air transport, Tom began his career in 1969 as a management trainee with the British Airways predecessor, BOAC. He went on to undertake a number of commercial positions in the British Airways marketing, customer service and operations divisions.

In 1979, Tom was recruited by IATA as Manager, Passenger Services, responsible for industry-wide reservations and ticketing services.

He was promoted to Director, Industry Automation in 1984 and subsequently rose through a number of senior appointments to become IATA’s Senior Vice President, Industry Distribution and Financial Services in 1998. As a member of the Executive Management Team reporting directly to the Chief Executive, Tom’s responsibilities in this post included management of IATA scheduling and airport slot allocation processes; its clearance services; passenger and cargo settlement systems; and worldwide passenger and cargo agency licensing. He was also responsible for initiating and directing IATA’s ‘Simplifying the Business’ programme whose key objective was to move the industry to 100 per cent electronic ticketing in 2008. This has since achieved more than US$3 billion in annual savings.

Tom retired from IATA in December 2009 and now works with Nyras from his base in Switzerland.

He is a graduate member of the Chartered Institute of Transport.

One of the international air transport industry’s leading legal authorities, Hugh O’Donovan became a Nyras Senior Associate in July, 2009.

As a barrister, he has specialised in aviation law for almost 25 years, gaining particular recognition for expertise in regulatory affairs and both United Kingdom and European Union competition law.

Hugh is currently based at London’s Quadrant Chambers, the set of barristers’ chambers specialising in commercial and industrial litigation. Before joining Quadrant in 2004, he had been Head of Aviation Regulatory and Commercial Law with two City of London-based international law firms. In these positions, Hugh advised on a wide range of industry issues including licensing, airline start-ups (notably easyJet), airport regulation, IPOs, airline mergers, slot allocation, aircraft purchase/leasing and competition law. He has acted as advocate before English courts and tribunals (including the Civil Aviation Authority and Competition Commission); the European Commission; and the European Court of Justice.

Hugh advises at the highest levels within the industry, the financial community and Government. He worked with Nyras on the 2008 sale of GB Airways to easyJet.

A member of the Regulatory Evaluation Group of the prestigious Adam Smith Institute, Hugh is also a former board member of the Airport Operators’ Association and co-author of the Aviation title of Halsbury’s Laws.

After obtaining a BA degree in Jurisprudence at Oxford University, he was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn, London, in 1975.

Former Head of Aircraft Acquisitions and Leasing for First Choice Airways, the major UK carrier, Gary Palin has extensive experience in all sectors of commercial aircraft operation and management. He led negotiations for First Choice’s US$2 billion Boeing 787 fleet acquisition, which resulted in the airline becoming a launch customer for this new aircraft. Gary began his career in the field of aircraft performance and airline economic analysis in support of new aircraft sales before moving on to front-line airline operations. He has held key management roles with carriers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

As a specialist consultant, he has been commissioned on major international projects under the auspices of the European Union and the World Bank, as well as by corporations such as British Aerospace and Shell. Since joining Nyras in 2004, Gary has contributed to a number of due diligence reviews where his practical experience has been applied to raise organisation, process and technical issues around fleet planning and management.

Corporate finance professional, Daniel Sacerdoti, was appointed Nyras Senior Associate in February, 2012, after having worked closely with the company throughout the previous year. Daniel’s career has focused on aviation finance and air transport management. As Financial Controller and Treasurer for GB Airways, the British Airways franchise partner, Daniel was a member of the senior management team responsible for the successful £103.5 million sale of GB Airways to easyJet plc in 2008. He was subsequently involved at senior management level with the smooth integration of GB Airways into the easyJet operation. A Chartered Accountant by profession, Daniel has proven expertise in aircraft financing and fleet planning; financial accounting; treasury functions; fuel hedging; merger & acquisition; due diligence; and slot valuation. He also has aircraft operations experience and is a US-qualified Commercial Pilot.

Daniel has worked, either in management or as a specialist consultant, for a wide range of carriers, including: Aer Arran, Air Baltic, bmi, easyJet, Estonian Air, Etihad, Lufthansa and TUI. He holds an MBA from London Business School and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Air Transport Management from the UK’s City University.

Widely-respected aeronautical engineer and airline technical director, Stuart Schofield, joined Nyras as a senior associate in March, 2010.

Former Technical Director for GB Airways and Engineering Director with British Midland Airways (bmi), he began his career with Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1961 after graduating with an honours degree in Aero Engineering from the UK’s Salford University.

Stuart moved to the airline sector ten years later when he joined British Airways, rising to become the carrier’s Production Planning and Control Manager. In 1990, he moved to FFV Aerotech – Stansted to oversee the introduction of wide-body heavy maintenance programmes.

The following year, Stuart was appointed Director of Technical services and Sales for British Aerospace at Filton where he was responsible for developing the Airbus wide-body maintenance business.

In 1997, he was recruited as Director of Engineering for British Midland Airways (bmi), a position he held for the next five years. After retiring from bmi in 2004, Stuart took on a six-month assignment as interim Chief Engineer for easyJet.

In 2006, he was appointed Technical Director for GB Airways, the British Airways franchise partner, responsible for all aspects of engineering, maintenance and regulatory compliance over the carrier’s fleet of 15 Airbus A320/321 aircraft.

Stuart left GB Airways when the airline was acquired by easyJet in April 2008\and went on to serve as maintenance and technical advisor to Wizz Air and Spanair.

A Chartered Engineer, Stuart holds an MBA degree from Lancaster University and is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has served on technical committees with the Association of European Airlines; the Air Transport Association of America; and the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC).

Based in Madrid, Angel San Segundo brings a wealth of business consultancy experience in Spain and Southern Europe. Between 2002 and 2005, he was a partner with IBM Business Consulting, responsible for leading business development in southern Europe. He was also IBM’s lead partner in the development of its travel and transportation consultancy arm, with a special role as client service partner for Iberia. He led many business improvement projects for clients such as Iberia, Sol Melia, Renfe, AENA and Globalia. Before joining IBM, Angel was a partner and director with Price Waterhouse Management Consulting Services, with whom he founded the leading CRM consulting practice in Spain.

As well as working with Nyras, Angel also serves as a Director of Programs and MBA Tutor at Madrid’s EOI Business School. Fluent in Spanish and English, with conversational French, Angel holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering from Madrid University and an MBA from EOI Business. He is the author of two books on Customer Service and Cost Optimisation.

Acclaimed as the world’s foremost independent air transport analyst, Chris Tarry has worked as a Senior Associate of Nyras since 2004. During this time, he has carried out a number of assignments involving business plan assessment of major carriers on behalf of banks and investors; in-depth review of prospects for European airline consolidation; evaluation of a major international carrier on behalf of a proposed investor; and strategic reviews of airlines undergoing structural change.

After building his reputation working for a number of leading financial institutions, Chris established himself as an independent aviation analyst and advisor in 2002. He has served as special advisor on aviation policy issues to the UK Government, to Parliamentary Committees and to the Civil Aviation Authority. Chris has also advised major airframe manufacturers and aircraft lessors on strategic development. He holds undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in economics and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Chris holds membership of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the Securities Institute. He is a Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. Chris lectures at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and the London School of Economics. Chris is also a Visiting Senior Fellow in the University of Surrey’s School of Management. He is a regular contributor to the influential Airline Business magazine.