Leslie Cassar, Chairman
After a long and successful career with Qantas including regional GM for Continental Europe and Middle East, Les joined Concorde International Travel as a partner-owner and Group MD. He then founded World Aviation Systems, successfully representing online & offline airlines in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Asia and Europe. Leslie has dedicated more than 35 years to enhancing strong relations between Australia, Italy and Malta, and in 1997 he was decorated by the Australian Government with The Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of his services to the Australian Aviation & Travel Industry and contribution to Australia-Malta relations. Leslie also serves as a Board Director of Destination NSW, the state tourism & events body.
Anthony Cassar,CEO & Legal Counsel
Anthony has a Bachelor of Applied Science, and a background in Commercial Law specialising in Tourism & Aviation, and Mergers & Acquisitions. Previously he was also Commercial Projects Manager for The Concorde Group and World Aviation Systems. Anthony is Managing Director of Breakaway Travelclub specialising in holiday packages for the Travel Industry. He has also advised on Aviation Law and bi-laterals for a number of International Carriers, and is a member of the NSW Law Society.
Colin Hughes, Director International Operations
Colin has been in the Airline Industry for over 40 years. He began his career in Qantas serving in Japan, USA, Europe and South East Asia, before moving to Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong as GM marketing services Worldwide, then GM Middle East in Bahrain. After 11 years at Cathay he moved to Continental Airlines as GM Pacific, then returned to Hong Kong as VP Asia Pacific at Northwest Airlines. In 1995 Col returned to Qantas as senior VP international for 8 years. In 2003, together with Anthony Cassar, founded GSA company Global Aviation Services which later merged with World Aviation Systems to form the largest GSA company in Asia Pacific with 41 client carriers (9 online).
Jerome Sattrukalsinghe, Chief Financial Officer
Jerome comes from a very strong Airline background with more than 30 years of experience in the Airline and Travel Industry. He has held senior management roles with Helloworld’s Airline division where he was the CFO for World Aviation Systems and Global Aviation Services for the Australian and New Zealand operations. He was responsible for the finance and administration for over 40 Passenger and Cargo Airlines. Jerome brings combination of team leadership, planning & managing performance, financial skills and is proficient in enhancing management reporting.
Anton Musin, General Manager New Zealand and Pacific Islands
Anton has been involved in the New Zealand travel industry for over 35 years. Starting his career with global travel agency brand Thomas Cook in the late 1980’s in the corporate travel division before moving to Lufthansa New Zealand in 1994. For more than 27 years, he helped build the largest and most successful offline airline product in New Zealand aviation for the Lufthansa Group airlines holding key management roles in Sales and Marketing, before becoming the General Manager New Zealand and Pacific Islands in 2017. Anton was also a recipient of the global top seller award for sales of Lufthansa Private Jet. Anton brings extensive experience in airline management, sales, marketing and is a specialist in offline airline sales strategy. He has built deep partnerships with all key stakeholders in the New Zealand travel industry during his time in the industry.
Yurike Russo, Marketing and promotions Manager
Yurike joined the Aviation Online in 2007 and is now responsible for the growth and multi-channel distribution of all carrier product to both trade and consumer. Through her dedication and attention to detail she has maintained all key industry contacts as well overseeing the management of the membership database, critical to the continued success of the Company. Yurike’s knowledge of product and support in daily operations ensures our customers’ needs are met and expectations exceeded.
Vesna Pandza, Commercial Manager Australia, NZ & The Pacific
Vesna has over 20 years of extensive experience in Aviation and Travel. She is an accomplished sales professional, with strong business acumen, innovation and dedication required to ensure the success of the company’s growth initiatives, with key focus on managing and leveraging successful partnerships, whilst ensuring a high level of customer service. Her career, predominantly in senior business development and client relationship management roles within the aviation sector, through GSA and airline representation, along with airfare distribution and ticketing consolidation, has given her understanding and exposure to many different areas of the Travel Industry, at a local, regional, and global level. In addition, she has developed and maintained strong business connections with the Airline and Travel Partners, Government and Commercial Corporate accounts, as well as with various Chambers of Commerce organisations and international Tourism bodies. Vesna is a compelling and influential communicator, well versed in leading commercial negotiations at C-Level and managing high level stakeholders, with a strong aptitude for boosting B2B/B2C sales, driving process and product improvements, whilst facilitating product training to build high-performing channel partners.
Ljiljana Svircev, Product Development and Training Manager
Lilliana is a Tourism Specialist and has a bachelor’s degree in Tourism, University of Belgrade. With over 30 years of experience in online and off-line airlines, Lilliana has developed excellent negotiation, sales, customer services and training skills. Lilliana started her airline career with Yugoslav Airlines in Belgrade. After moving to Sydney, Lilliana managed operations of Zepter travel agency and worked with consolidator Bravo Travel and Japan Airlines in customer services and sales roles. From year 2000 - 2003 Lilliana joined IATA BSP and Unisys in the role of Ground Operations support. For over 20 years she has worked as a dedicated Product Development & Training Manager for Finnair with World Aviation Systems and Airline Marketing Australia. Lilliana has a professional and long-term relationships with key airline partners in Australia. She has developed excellent client/customer relationship, results driven, aligning with the company’s strategy and targets. She has a proven record in achieving team goals. Lilliana is a qualified professional Trainer and was teaching travel subjects for over 10 years at private travel colleges, BBC - Bridge Business College and SBTA – Sydney Business and Travel Academy.
Navinesh Prasad, Reservations & Ticketing Supervisor
Navi is a seasoned professional with over 9 years of experience in the travel industry. His journey began as a reservations consultant for Fiji Airways at Centrecom, one of the largest outsourcing companies in Fiji. Over the years, he has taken on various roles including reservations and ticketing team leader, training and quality coordinator, and customer success manager for Air Malta reservations & Refund team in Fiji. Currently, Navi serves as the reservations and ticketing supervisor for Aviation Online & Breakaway Travel Club, where he plays a pivotal role in supporting day-to-day operations. His wealth of experience and expertise make him a valuable asset in the travel industry.