ANNUAL REPORT 2015
THE THIRD ISSUE
AIRASIA X BERHAD
42
aviation, telecommunications and fast
moving consumer goods industries. In his
extensive career, he has developed and
executed market penetration strategies,
new product introduction campaigns and
set up and trained sales teams in new
local and international markets.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
(Hons) in Business Administration from the
University of Hertfordshire, at Inti College
Malaysia.
YEOH SAI YEW
Head of People
Yeoh has been with the AirAsia Group
since 2010. As Head of People,he oversees
all human resources deliveries.
Yeoh brings with him16 years of experience
gained from different disciplines in Human
Resources (HR) in diverse industries,
ranging from telecommunications to IT,
banking, hospitality, aviation and retail.
During this time, he has managed the
implementation of PeopleSoft and SAP
HR Management Systems (HRMS) in a
previous organisation as well as at AirAsia.
Prior to joining AirAsia Group, he was
with Genting Resorts Berhad; CSA
Sdn Bhd, where he was involved in
Business Process Outsourcing; and DiGi
Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, where he
successfully revamped and simplified
the company’s benefits structure. Yeoh
believes in enabling management to
achieve organisational objectives through
helping employees realise their potential.
He also nurtures a culture of commitment
to organisational success by streamlining
individual performance with that of the
company.
He holds a Master’s of Business
Administration from Universiti Utara
Malaysia and has spoken at numerous HR
conferences across Southeast Asia.
FAIRUZ MAJID
Head of Communications
Fairuz joined AirAsia Berhad in 2007 and
later moved to AirAsia X as part of the
pioneering team, focused on driving
the commercial department. He took
on the position of Sponsorship and
Events Manager in 2010, following which
he became the Regional Marketing
Manager in 2012 and Head of Marketing
in 2013. Along with the company’s
growth, Fairuz assumed positions of
greater responsibility, and in 2014, he
was promoted to Head of Marketing and
Communications overseeing AirAsia X’s
marketing strategies and communication,
public relations, events and sponsorship
activities. Since 2015, his focus has been
targeted at communication as Head of
Communications for AirAsia X. He also
supports regional communication efforts
by working closely with other AOCs in the
AirAsia and AirAsia X Groups.
Fairuz brings with him a decade of
experience in the fields of marketing
and communication. His practice began
with one of Malaysia’s largest privately-
owned conglomerates, the Naza Group
of Companies, where he underwent an
internship under the Pemuda Internship
Program (PINTAR). He was subsequently
offered a permanent job at the company,
which he served for three years.
Fairuz graduated from Universiti Teknologi
MARA with a Bachelor in Business
Administration (Hons) Marketing.
ABDULLAH BIN HASHIM
Headof InternalAudit andRiskManagement
Abdullah was appointed Head of Internal
Audit and Risk Management at AirAsia X in
September 2014. He was formerly the Chief
Internal Auditor of Petra Energy Berhad and
immediately before that, served a short
stint as Chief Internal Auditor of Syarikat
Prasarana Negara Berhad. He has over 10
years of internal audit experience covering
a range of industries such as oil and
gas, telecommunications, transportation,
manufacturing and facilities management,
stemming from the start of his career within
the UEM Group.
He obtained a Bachelor’s in Accounting
with Honours from the University of
Malaya in 1995 and a Master of Business
Administration (MBA) from London South
Bank University, London in 2007. Abdullah
is a Chartered Accountant (Malaysia)
registered with the Malaysian Institute of
Accountants (MIA), a Certified Internal
Control Auditor certified by the Institute of
Internal Control (IIC), and an Associate
Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors
(IIA) Malaysia.
VENGGATARAO NIADU
Head of Network and Regulatory
Venggatarao has been with AirAsia X
since its inception in 2007. He joined the
company when it was FlyAsianXpress in
2006 during the Malaysian Aviation Route
Rationalisation period, and was a member
of the pioneering team that established
AirAsia X with the launch of the inaugural
flight to the Gold Coast in 2007. He took
on various cross-functional roles across
network and fleet planning, scheduling,
regulatory affairs and operations before
focusingon route planningand scheduling
in 2011. AirAsia X went on to win Best
Network Performance by an Airline at the
World Routes Awards in the same year and
currently holds the distinction of having
the highest aircraft utilisation in the world.
In 2012, Venggatarao took on the
additional role of leading the charters
and leasing business, beginning with
Kathmandu charters (ended in early
2014). He was appointed Group Head of
Network for the AirAsia X Group in 2014. In
2015, his portfolio expanded and he took
on an additional role in regulatory affairs.
Prior to AirAsia X, he was an internal auditor
at Singer Malaysia, part of the Berjaya
Corporation umbrella, for nine years.
YOGESH UPADHYAY
Head of Corporate Finance, Charter and
Leasing
Yogesh joined AirAsia X in 2014 as Head of
Charter and Leasing. His primary function
in this role is to maximise airline revenue
by deploying excess fleet on wet lease
operations and manage negotiations for
all charter and wet lease contracts. In the
same year, he took on an additional role
as Head of Ancillary until early 2015, and
drove AirAsia X to be recognised as a Top
10 Global Airline for Ancillary Revenue per
Passenger by IdeaWorksCompany.
With Yogesh's strong negotiation skills,
aircraft knowledge and experience in the
airline industry, he was then appointed as
Head of Corporate Finance in 2015, where
he leads negotiations with banks, head
lessors and airliners for any corporate
exercise and aircraft related matter.
PROFILE OF THE
LEADERSHIP TEAM
