Airbus SLC appoints new head for MENA

Airbus has appointed Andrew Forbes as its new head of the Middle East and North-Africa region for its Secure Land Communications division. He replaced Selim Bouri, the previous holder of this position on 2 September – Bouri has moved on to another position within Airbus.

Forbes is based in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and oversees more than 95 employees in Airbus’s offices in the United Arab Emirates and KSA. He has 36 years’ experience in the implementation, operation, and management of geographically dispersed Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems and is an experienced communications and structured cable design engineer.

He also has extensive experience in military communication services as he started his career in the British Armed Forces and has also worked for the NATO Communications and Information Agency. He has spent a total of ten years in Saudi Arabia, and joined Airbus in 2014 to become Head of GPT Special Project Management Ltd., part of Airbus Defence and Space’s Secure Communications branch. He first served as operations director before becoming the managing director responsible for a 542-person team in 2017.

Forbes has a Master of Science (MSc) in Information Technology Service Management from Northampton University, and a Diploma in Company Direction.

“We strongly intend to intensify efforts made in the fields of public safety networks, defence, transportation, energy and other critical industries such as the mining sector, to bring forward innovative and customised solutions that surpass competitors. In the Middle East region in particular, we can build on our excellent existing customer relations”, said Forbes. “Our customers, particularly in the Middle East, are forerunners in mission-critical technology solutions. They are expecting their systems to follow the same megatrends that the civilian ones are following while maintaining the most important features such as security, reliability, resiliency, and of course, voice. Our aim is to bring forward hybrid possibilities, seamless connectivity, data-driven services, and applications with extremely high security standards while maintaining flawless voice services”, he added.