New recruit

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Female flyer

SriLankan Airlines recently marked a significant milestone in the country's aviation history when it appointed the national carrier's first lady captain. Captain Anusha Siriratne joined SriLankan as a cadet pilot in June 1998.

She served as a second officer on the Lockheed L1011 Tristar fleet and in 1999 was promoted to first officer. "It doesn't make a difference whether you are a man or a woman when flying," she said.

The circumstances don't change, the weather is the same and the aircraft doesn't really know the difference either."

Russian rise

Etihad Airways has appointed Geoff Rhodes as the airline's manager for Russia. The Abu Dhabi-based airline starts flights to Moscow on December 1. Rhodes will manage Etihad's commercial operations across the Russian market. Rhodes previoulsyheld a number of posts with British Airways, including 10 years in Russia in the 1990s.

Lovely Linly

Hotel group Dusit International has announced the appointment of Linly Heng as the first regional director of sales & marketing for Middle East. Heng's responsibility covers all sales and marketing activities across the region in a bid to strengthen the company's reach in the Middle East market. Heng has more than 15 years' experience in hospitality, having worked with luxury hotel chains like Shangri-La Hotels and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

Scandinavian switch

SAS Scandinavian Airlines has appointed Anna Lyczak-Czepukojc as the new country manager for the UAE. Anna, who replaces Magnus Engstrom, began her career at SAS in 1994 in tickets sales and customer service in Gdansk. She holds a Masters degree in Scandinavian Literature and Languages (speaks fluent Norwegian) from the University of Gdansk, as well as an MBA degree, which she acquired in 2004 from the University of Gdansk & Rotterdam School of Management. Besides that, Anna also participated in the internal management training: EMEA Development Academy in 2006-07.

Cooper confirmed

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has moved to appoint Kent Cooper as vice president, regional hotel sales for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Middle East and Africa. Cooper has amassed more than15 years of hotel industry experience with leading hospitality companies, including Hyatt Hotels and Resorts and Hilton Hotels. He currently lives in Dubai with his wife Barbara and their two children, Maxwell and MacKenzie.

Arabian advance

Hilton Hotels Corporation has announced the appointment of Shuja Zaidi for the newly created post of vice president projects, Saudi Arabia, Zaidi has worked for Hilton in the US, China and Saudi Arabia.

Ismail in

Safir Heliopolitan Hotel Beirut has welcomed Walid Ismail as its new director of sales & marketing. Ismail holds a Bachelor of Science with a double major in business management from the Lebanese American University in Beirut.

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