The Team
Knighthood Global brings together a unique handpicked team of proven industry leaders and specialists who have worked across some of the best known global businesses.
Knighthood Global Principals
James Hogan AO
Chairman Knighthood Global Limited
James is a global veteran of the aviation, travel and hospitality industries with more than four decades of senior executive leadership experience.
He is Chairman of Knighthood Global Limited which he set up to offer business advisory, capital structuring and investment services in Aerospace & Aviation, Travel & Tourism, Hospitality, and Real Estate.
James is a Director, Sanad Services Group (Mubadala Company).
He is also a guest lecturer for the EMBA Programme at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
He previously served as Group President and Chief Executive of the Etihad Aviation Group where he oversaw the development of Etihad Airways from a USD 300 million airline and its transformation into a travel and tourism group valued at more than USD 20 billion, achieving the mandate from his shareholders to build a world-class diversified aviation and travel group, and securing profitability for five consecutive years from 2011 to 2015.
He also held positions as Vice Chairman and Board member of Alitalia, airberlin, Air Serbia and Jet Airways, and served as Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and as a member of the IATA Board of Governors. In 2010 James was the Chairman of Aviation, Travel and Tourism Community Governors of the World Economic Forum.
He is a former member of the UBS Industrialisation Advisory Board and Non- Executive Director of the Gallagher Group Ltd.
Prior to this, he was President and CEO of Gulf Air, and held senior executive positions at BMI, Forte Hotels, and Hertz.
In 2017, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for ‘distinguished services to the aviation transport industry, to the development of tourism and trade linkages between Australia and the Gulf States, and to international airline associations’.
His strategic leadership has received global recognition and awards, amongst others, the Executive Award from Airline Strategy, the Aviation Executive of the Year from CAPA, and the ATW Airline of the Year Award.
James Rigney
Principal & Chief Executive Officer
James Rigney is a Principal and the Chief Executive Officer of Knighthood Global.
He formerly served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Etihad Aviation Group, a position he held between October 2006 and June 2017. He was responsible for finance, treasury, supply chain and property at the airline with oversight of these functions in the company’s wholly owned subsidiaries. James was at the forefront of the 2007 financial restructuring of Etihad Airways, and concluded financing in excess of USD 9 billion, in addition to implementing a fuel hedging programme, world-class reporting and strong corporate governance.
He was also a Board member of Alitalia, airberlin, Air Serbia and Jet Airways, and served on the Board of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies. He is a former member of the IATA Finance Committee. Prior to this, James served as Head of Strategy at Gulf Air and held positions at Ansett and KPMG.
James was named the best Middle East CFO in 2013 and received multiple awards for funding structures and arrangements that he led. James is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and an MBA from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.
Partners & Directors
Camiel Eurlings
Partner
Camiel has more than two decades of expertise as a public policy maker and corporate leader in aviation and hospitality.
Prior to joining Knighthood Global, he worked as an independent consultant, and served as President and CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines following his tenure at the helm of the cargo divisions of Air France-KLM and Martinair. He was also a member of the Alliance Steering Committee of the Board of Gol Transportes Aéreos and the IATA Cargo Committee, and is a former Member of the Board of Directors of American Express Global Business Travel.
He was active in national and European politics from 1998 when he was elected to the States-General of the Netherlands as a Member of the House of Representatives in the Hague, and he served as the chief spokesman on transport and international affairs until 2004. He was Minister for Transport, Public Works and Water Management from 2007 to 2010 and was Member of the European Parliament. He also served as Vice President of the European People’s Party (EPP).
In addition to being a Partner of Knighthood Global, he is also a Member of the Supervisory Boards of Bonaire International Airport and Nordic Aviation Group (Nordica/X-Fly).
He holds a Master of Science in Industrial and Management Science (Cum Laude) from Eindhoven University of Technology.
He is an Officer in the Order of Oranje-Nassau and is also a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
Ajaz Nazier
Partner
In a career of more than 35 years in the global aviation industry, Ajaz has acquired specialist technical expertise in aircraft and equipment negotiations, aircraft leasing, and MRO services.
He formerly served as Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Contracts for the Etihad Aviation Group in the UAE, where he was responsible for managing the Group’s key technical contracts, playing a leading role in the negotiation of multi-billion dollar deals for the purchase of aircraft and engines, MRO services and PBH agreements.
He began his career at Gulf Air in Bahrain where he spent 27 years working in senior technical management positions before moving to Jet Airways in 2008 as Senior General Manager, Contracts responsible for a fleet of more than 100 aircraft.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Maintenance Management and Aircraft Technologies and an Associate Degree in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, US.
Danysh Framroze
Director
An accomplished senior executive, Danysh brings 20 years of progressive experience in finance, strategy and related disciplines working for global aviation industry leaders such as the Etihad Aviation Group, ICF and Delta Air Lines. Danysh operates primarily from the Knighthood Global’s offices in the United Arab Emirates.
He previously served as the Head of Finance at the Etihad Aviation Group and was responsible for financial control, planning, M&A activity and the preparation of shareholder presentations. He served on the Board Finance Committee offering insight into profit optimisation. He was also a member of the IATA High Performing Airline Finance Organisations Committee.
Before joining Etihad Airways in 2009, Danysh worked as a Management Consultant at ICF, based out of their Boston, MA offices. He began his career in the FP&A team at Delta Air Lines in Atlanta, GA. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Babson College in Boston, and a Masters of Business Administration from the London Business School.
Anne Tullis
Director
Anne has more than three decades of experience as a corporate affairs professional, communicator and publisher. Today she brings this experience and expertise to her role at Knighthood Global.
Before joining Knighthood Global, she was Head of Corporate Affairs and CSR at the Etihad Aviation Group from 2007 to 2018. She worked on the planning and implementation of an international multi-stakeholder communications strategy to build and protect the organisation’s reputation. Her experience includes internal and external communications for multi-million dollar M&A deals, lobbying campaigns in hostile markets, major brand and product launches, and global sponsorship deals.
Anne has also worked in publishing heading up the legal and tax titles at Butterworths Publishers in South Africa. In Bahrain she was Managing Editor for Fortune Promoseven’s Publishing Division producing several monthly titles in English and Arabic. She has written extensively for international banking institutions, telecommunications companies, and hospitality clients.
She holds Bachelors degrees in Arts (English and Industrial Psychology) and Law, an Honours Diploma in Tax Law, and a Post Graduate Certificate in International Relations and Economics.
Tanja Karlovčec
Manager - Digital and Project Management Office
Tanja has a background in social media and digital marketing. Prior to working as a digital marketing consulting, she was an industrial engineer at UPS in Spain.
She is a graduate of the UPS Global Management Trainee Programme.
She holds a Masters Degree in International Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management from the University of Maribor in Slovenia and studied Industrial Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena.
Advisory Board
Knighthood Global enjoys the support and expertise of a strong group of advisors all of whom participate in our projects where their experience strengthens our offering and extends our capability.
Kirsty Tan
Advisor
Kirsty Tan is the International Dean of a successful global EMBA (specializing in Future Technology and Aviation Management), a joint program of ENAC, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech and Tsinghua University, as well as an international consultant for Global 500 companies and universities.
Kirsty started her career as a Chartered Accountant (C.A.) working for Pacific Brands, a Top 20 diversified company and Qantas Airways, the largest airline in Australia. After leading several major projects for KPMG Consulting in the USA, she founded KST Consulting in 2004 with a list of Fortune 500 global firms as her clients. As Chief Investment Officer for Loong Airlines in China, her network spanned globally.
Armed with her industry experience and her academic achievements, she continues teaching at universities in the USA, France, China, Bhutan, UAE, and Morocco.
Kirsty’s key qualifications are in the areas of digital technology, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, operations management, international management, economics and finance.
She is also a key contributor to a book titled “Elite Entrepreneurs of China: The Chinese Returnees Who Have Shaped Modern China” by Emerald Group Publishing, UK, along with other business cases.
Kirsty holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the International School of Management, France and a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Commerce from Deakin University, Australia. She continues to be an active international member with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
Michel Taride
Advisor
Michel brings the experience and insights gained during a career as a Group President of Hertz International, a Fortune 500 corporation and global executive within the travel and tourism industry as well as the automotive and smart mobility space.
He is a recognised advisor and mentor working with corporations, start-ups, incubators, industry associations and think tanks.
He serves as the Chair of the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP), a non profit organistion that operates in 15 countries and enables students to build careers in travel and tourism, with the support of 10 global travel operators, teachers and governments.
Jean-Claude Baumgarten
Advisor
Jean-Claude is an internationalist and a respected travel and tourism leader who brings years of experience operating at the highest levels in government and private enterprise.
Mr Baumgarten joined Air France in 1970 and served the company for more than two decades in senior executive commercial and corporate roles and as a member of the Executive and Strategic Committee, ending his tenure at the company in July 1998 after serving as Executive Vice President of Corporate, International and Industrial Affairs, and finally as Advisor to the Chairman.
Following his retirement from Air France, he set up New York based Crewe Associates which provides consultancy and start-up advice for new businesses.
Mr Baumgarten served as President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council from October 1999 to November 2010 when he became its Vice Chairman.
He is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur and an Officier de l’Ordre National du Merite as well as a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres. He is an advisor in foreign trade to both the French Government and the Chairman of the Tourism Commission. He was presented with the Gold Medal for Tourism by Turismo do Algarve in 2003.
He is a graduate of Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, one of Europe’s most prestigious business schools and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Buffalo in America.
Chris Tarry
Advisor
A respected aviation analyst, Chris has worked for leading financial institutions in the City of London for nearly two decades before setting up aviation consultancy CTAIRA in 2002 to provide research, consulting services and advice to private and public sector organisations in a number of countries. He has served as a special advisor on aviation policy to government departments, regulators and the UK parliament, amongst others. He is a member of a number of industry panels, advisory councils and advisory boards.
He has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in economics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and a Liveryman of the Honourable Company of Pilots. He is also a visiting professor in Aviation Strategy at Coventry University.
Ray Eglington
Advisor
Ray is Group Managing Director of the Four Communications Group and has more than 30 years’ experience of delivering award-winning corporate reputation, crisis and issues management and international consumer brand campaigns.
He has particular experience in the aviation and travel sectors. He led strategic communications for Etihad Airways for 13 years, advising the CEO and the wider C-suite and handling major communications issues – from the world’s largest aircraft order, to the launch of the Residence, to financial community communications, to the Etihad Equity Alliance, to the Keep the Skies Open campaign. He also provided on-ground support to airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles and Alitalia.
Ray managed corporate and consumer campaigns for bmi British Midland for 20 years, including the launch of bmibaby. He worked in-house for AMR Corporation for two years, as European PR manager for Sabre. Other client experience includes consumer PR for SAS, corporate reputation work for Gulf Air, the launch of Travelocity, pan-European communications for Worldspan and communications support for Abu Dhabi Airports Company.
He has developed crisis communications policies and plans for airlines, hotels, banks, energy providers, real estate developers, event organisers, security consultancies and consumer brands. Over his career he has worked on crisis communications responses to airplane crashes, terrorist attacks, customer deaths, event cancellations and system failures.
Ray has won many awards for his campaigns, including the PR Week Grand Prix, the IPR Sword of Excellence, PRCA Outstanding Consultancy Practice awards, Sabre awards and numerous MEPRA awards. Four is the current Large Agency of the Year in the Middle East and has won more MEPRA awards for successful client campaigns than any other agency.
As one of the four founders of the business, Ray sits on the Group Board and Executive Committee of Four Communications Group. He was Chair of the Middle East Public Relations Association in 2017 and 2018, a period which saw the trade association develop its largest ever membership, its widest range of activities and its most successful financial performance. He is also Chair of Greencombe Limited, a UK-based park homes business.
Before starting Four, Ray was a main board director at Charles Barker BSMG Worldwide, the UK’s sixth-largest agency, and before that, he held positions as a director at Countrywide Porter Novelli and as European public relations manager for Sabre / American Airlines.
Orlando Gemes
Advisor
Orlando Gemes founded Fairwater Capital in 2015 to develop a suite of risk-focused, alternative credit and real estate funds. He currently manages two European real estate opportunities funds focused on taking concentrated positions in listed securities. Fairwater also invests in ABS and structured credit, including aviation.
Mr Gemes was previously the Head of Structured Credit Solutions at Hermes Fund Managers, which was wholly owned by the British Telecom Pension Scheme. At Hermes, he developed and managed structured credit funds, and was part of the team that managed high-performing investment-grade and high-yield UCITS funds. He also served on the Portfolio Review Committee, which had risk oversight of all Hermes funds. While at Hermes, he worked closely with the International Finance Corporation to deliver regulatory capital relief to banks in the area of trade finance.
Previously, Mr Gemes worked with the credit team from Hermes at Fortis Investments in Paris, where he was a Senior Credit Trader and Portfolio Manager involved in investment grade, high yield, leveraged loans, CDOs and CPPIs. During his time at Fortis, the AUM in credit grew from € 1 billion to over € 15 billion.
Mr Gemes has also worked as a Proprietary Trader at Credaris, and in fixed income sales at Deutsche Bank. He previously worked with Investing for Good to provide funding solutions to charities, social projects and the arts.
Mr Gemes holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Applied Finance from Macquarie University, Sydney.
Ramona Mӑnescu
Advisor
Ramona is currently head of Transgaz SA in Brussels after a distinguished career in European and Romanian politics.
Her political career began in 2002 when she was appointed to the Chamber of Deputies in the Romanian Parliament. She expanded her role into Europe serving in diverse roles in the European Parliament between 2007 and 2009 and then from 2009 to 2013 following which she became Minister of Transport in the Romanian Government. After a third mandate in the European Parliament, which ended in 2019, Ramona was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. She now heads up the Brussels office for Transgaz SA.
She has extensive experience in European politics and brings a broad network of connections in the private and public sectors, and a deep knowledge and understanding of European business relationships.
Ramona has a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Bucharest and several post graduate qualifications including a Diploma in International Relations and European Integration MA from the National School of Administration and Political Science of Bucharest.