Montréal, Québec. 15 September2016. Bombardier Commercial Aircraft announced the appointment of François Cognard as Vice President, Sales, South-East Asia and Australasia. Cognard is an accomplished senior sales leader who will focus on capturing growth and replacement opportunities in the regions that include Australasia – a region of Oceania that comprises Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean and South-East Asia. Based in Singapore, his appointment is effective immediately and he will report to Colin Bole, Senior Vice President, Commercial.
“François joins our commercial aircraft sales team while we push forward with our transformation plans that will position us for success in key markets around the world as we promote and place our portfolio of Q Series, CRJ Series and C Series aircraft,” said Bole. “South Asia and the Asia Pacific region account for almost 15 per cent of Bombardier’s forecasted deliveries for new aircraft in the 60- to 150-seat market over the next 20 years.
“As we aim to increase our proximity to these markets, as well as our agility and focus, François’ leadership will be instrumental in capturing a good portion of these sales opportunities.”
Cognard began his aviation career in 1996 with Airbus and has acquired extensive international experience in the aviation industry over the past 20 years. Prior to joining Bombardier, he was the Vice President, Head of Sales, Middle East and North Africa based in Dubai, U.A.E. for Airbus and managed sales activities for customers such as Emirates Airline, Air Arabia, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, and Air Algérie. Prior to this, he was based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he was responsible for Airbus’ commercial activities in South-East Asia. He also worked in Toulouse, France and was accountable for Sales in Southern Africa.
Cognard has a Master`s degree in Business Law from the Université des Sciences Sociales de Toulouse, and he is an M.B.A. graduate from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, U.S.A. In 1995 he obtained a Master of Sciences degree in Air Transport Management from the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.
