Air France-KLM has announced the appointment of Joris Holtus as General Manager for East and Southern Africa, Nigeria and Ghana, effective immediately.

Holtus succeeds Marius van der Ham, who held the position for the past three years and played a pivotal role in strengthening the Group’s presence and partnerships across the region

Up until his new role, Holtus was VP of Sales Planning & Development at Air France-KLM’s headquarters in Amstelveen, Netherlands and Paris – Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, where he led a 100-person team with a responsibility to develop sales strategies, policies and products

With over 25 years of senior leadership experience across four continents, Holtus brings deep expertise in commercial strategy, customer experience, and business transformation. He returns to the African continent, having served as General Manager for Southern Africa at Air France-KLM, where, for three years, he held full commercial, operational, and organizational responsibility.

“We are excited to welcome Joris Holtus back to Africa in this critical leadership role,” said Hildabeta Amiani, the Country Sales Manager, Kenya at Air France-KLM. “His deep understanding of diverse markets, commitment to transformation, and passion for people make him ideally suited to lead our continued growth in this dynamic region.”

His career highlights include; Launching Air France-KLM’s Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) program, an industry-leading initiative, leading airline turnaround strategies, focusing on digital transformation and customer excellence, driving strong revenue growth and network expansion across Latin America and the Caribbean as General Manager Mid-Americas & Dutch Caribbean. Also, Holtus was instrumental in spearheading award-winning customer experience innovations such as SkyPriority and KLM’s Meet & Seat.

Holtus holds a Master’s degree in Business Economics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is fluent in Dutch and English, with working experience in German and Spanish.

“I am honored to rejoin the region at such an exciting time for aviation in Africa,” he said. “The East, Southern and West African markets are full of opportunity and innovation. I look forward to working with our teams and partners to further enhance connectivity and customer service”.

Holtus assumes leadership of the region as the Air France–KLM Group continues to expand its footprint across East Africa. Recently, Air France launched flights to Kilimanjaro, marking its entry into northern Tanzania and underscoring its commitment to broadening its global network and enhancing connectivity to and from Africa. Air France also operates daily direct flights from Nairobi, Kenya to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, strengthening its presence in the region.