Akbar Al Baker

Akbar Al Baker (born 1962) is a Qatari businessman who was Group CEO of Qatar Airways from 1997 until 5 November 2023, relaunching the airline and building its global network and fleets, and who led the development of Hamad International Airport, which opened in 2014. He chaired Qatar Tourism until October 2023 and the Oneworld alliance's governing board from 2021, and was known for an outspoken style in disputes with rivals and aircraft manufacturers. ^{1 2}

Al Baker was born in 1962 in Doha, Qatar, though the article's sentence on his birthplace carries a failed-verification tag. ¹ As a child he studied at St. Peter's School, a boarding school in Panchgani in Maharashtra, India, and later moved to Mumbai, where he graduated from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics. ¹ The Arabic article adds that before aviation he worked in retail in Doha until 1990 and in contracting, real estate and commercial agencies, and held a post at the General Authority for Labour. ³

Al Baker worked at Qatar's Civil Aviation Directorate before becoming chief executive of Qatar Airways in 1997, relaunching the airline and applying a ten-year strategy to expand its network and build a modern fleet. ^{1 3} He was CEO of the group's many divisions — including Qatar Executive, Qatar Duty Free, Doha International Airport and Qatar Aircraft Catering — and led the development of Hamad International Airport, which opened in May 2014 and became the airline's home. ¹ He was chairman of the Qatar Tourism Authority — the Arabic article dates his board chairmanship from 2000 — holding the role until 22 October 2023, and served on the executive committee of the Arab Air Carriers' Organization, the board of governors of IATA and as a non-executive director of Heathrow Airport Holdings. ^{1 3} In May 2021 he became governing board chairman of the Oneworld alliance, and in October 2023 he announced he would step down as Qatar Airways CEO, ending his tenure on 5 November 2023. ¹

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