Aviation sector veteran Sanjiv Kapoor has assumed charge as chief executive officer of Saudi Arabian low-cost carrier flyadeal.

Kapoor, who was CEO-designate of Jet Airways, served as an adviser to the Director General of Saudi, the country’s national airline before taking up the new role.

flyadeal is the low-cost arm of Saudia. An internal announcement of Kapoor’s announcement as the CEO was made on Tuesday. He declined to comment.

Kapoor, who is a US citizen, replaces Con Korfiatis who headed flyadeal since its launch in 2017. Under his watch, the airline grew its fleet and expanded its network within West Asia, Turkey and Central Asia. According to a FlightGlobal report, flyadeal is the third biggest airline in Saudi Arabia with 11 per cent share of seat capacity. Saudi Arabia which is diversifying its economy to reduce dependence on oil recently announced the launch of a new airline- Riyadh Air.

Kapoor’s appointment means another West Asian airline will have a person of Indian origin at its helm. Jazeera Airways of Kuwait is led by CEO Rohit Ramachandran