We are very pleased to announce that as one of the final events of our 130th anniversary, our VII Gala Dinner will be held on Tuesday 6th December at the exclusive Merchant Taylors’ Hall, located in the heart of the City of London.
This exceptional celebration will be the most important activity that the Spanish Chamber will organise in 2016 and it will be attended by leading representatives from a wide range of British and Spanish companies. Following tradition, the event will be presided by H.E. the Ambassador of Spain, Mr. Federico Trillo – Figueroa.
On such a special occasion and to culminate an even more special year for our institution; we are privileged to have Mr. Álex Cruz, Chairman and CEO of British Airways, as our Guest of Honour and we would like to take this opportunity to introduce him as well as the company he represents.
Mr. Cruz began his professional career at American Airlines in 1995, spending half his 10 years at the group with its travel technology arm, Sabre, in London, working with a range of European airlines. In 2000, he became a partner at Arthur D Little before setting up his own aviation consulting firm in 2002.
In 2005, he joined Accenture as its head of aviation. In 2006 he founded Clickair, a Barcelona-based airline, merging the airline with Vueling in 2009 and becoming Vueling’s Chairman and CEO. Vueling was acquired by International Airline Group (IAG) in 2013, with Mr. Álex Cruz joining the IAG Management Committee. In April 2016, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of British Airways.
He is also a visiting lecturer at the IESE Business School in Madrid and the ESADE Business & Law School in Barcelona. Alex is 50 years old and originally from Bilbao in Spain. He has a degree in industrial engineering from Central Michigan University, an MSc from the Ohio State University, and Business Management & Administration degree from the Cox School of Business in Dallas.
As for British Airways, the British company is the flag carrier and largest airline in the United Kingdom based on fleet size with more than 40 years of history. BA is one of the founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance. The alliance has since grown to become the third-largest, after SkyTeam and Star Alliance.
British Airways merged with Iberia on 21 January 2011, formally creating the International Airlines Group (IAG), the world’s third-largest airline group in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest in Europe. IAG is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE 100 Index.
With such a remarkable Guest of Honour, we are positive that attendees will be delighted to listen to Mr. Cruz’s insights and exchange impressions with him during the evening.
Not to mention that the Gala will be hosted at one of London’s most impressive livery halls: Mechant Taylor’s Hall, which dates back to the 14th Century! If you want to have a look to the magnificent setting for our 130th anniversary gala dinner, please click here
Please remember that places for this event are limited, so do not forget to book yours in advance to avoid disappointment. For further information on this event and how to submit your booking, please click here.