Etihad appoints new Senior VP corporate communications

Ms de Rome will be based at Etihad's headquarters in Abu Dhabi and report to James Hogan, the airline's chief executive. Ms de Rome, 48, previously held the position of head of corporate communications at Qantas Airways in Australia.

She joined Qantas in July 1995 and held a number of positions within the communications team before becoming head in April 2005. Prior to her time with Qantas, Ms de Rome worked in public relations and corporate affairs at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for eight years.

Mr Hogan said:

"Etihad Airways has firmly established itself as one of the world's leading airlines and communicating our continued success around the globe and to our staff is of paramount importance, particularly in these challenging economic times. "

"To be the best airline in the world it is vital that Etihad recruits the best staff and we are delighted to welcome Belinda to the airline. Her experience and expertise in the field of communications are set to make a significant contribution in Etihad's growth."

Ms de Rome has extensive experience in crisis communication, internal communication and event management. Among many achievements at Qantas was Ms de Rome's communications strategy for the delivery of its first Airbus A380 aircraft.

Ms de Rome said: "I am thrilled to join Etihad Airways and have the opportunity to play a key role in communicating the airline's exciting and ambitious development. The Etihad corporate communications team has done a great job in raising the profile of the airline and I look forward to taking this to new heights.

"Increasingly the focus of the aviation industry is in the Middle East and Etihad has prime position to become not only the best in the region, but across the world."

Ms de Rome will take up her new role on Sunday 16 August. She will lead a team of team of nine PR, media relations and internal communications professionals in the department.

The Etihad Airways corporate communications team recently won the prestigious Sabre award for "Best Corporate Media Relations" campaign.

Announced in May at a ceremony in Stockholm the award recognised the department's many achievements which include generating an average of more than 1,000 positive articles around the world each month.