Holtus was until now the VP of Sales Planning & Development at Air France-KLM’s headquarters in Amstelveen, Netherlands and Paris – Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, where he led a 100-person team with a responsibility to develop sales strategies, policies and products
- He has 25 years’ experience, including in Africa, where he has served as the airline group’s General Manager for Southern Africa.
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 9, 2025 – Air France-KLM has today announced the appointment of Joris Holtus as General Manager for East and Southern Africa, Nigeria and Ghana, effective immediately. Holtus succeeds Marius van der Ham, who held the position for the past three years and played a pivotal role in strengthening the Group’s presence and partnerships across the region.
With over 25 years of senior leadership experience across four continents, Holtus brings deep expertise in commercial strategy, customer experience, and business transformation. He returns to the African continent, having served as General Manager for Southern Africa at Air France-KLM, where, for three years, he held full commercial, operational, and organizational responsibility.
“We are excited to welcome Joris Holtus back to Africa in this critical leadership role,” said Hildabeta Amiani, the Country Sales Manager, Kenya at Air France KLM. “His deep understanding of diverse markets, commitment to transformation, and passion for people make him ideally suited to lead our continued growth in this dynamic region.”
In his most recent role as Vice President Sales Planning & Development at Air France-KLM’s headquarters in Amstelveen, Netherlands and Paris – Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, Holtus led a 100-person team , reshaping the Group’s global sales organization and driving performance through innovation, technology and transformation.
His career highlights include:
- Launching Air France-KLM’s Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) program, an industry-leading initiative.
- Leading airline turnaround strategies, focusing on digital transformation and customer excellence.
- Driving strong revenue growth and network expansion across Latin America and the Caribbean as General Manager Mid-Americas & Dutch Caribbean.
- Spearheading award-winning customer experience innovations such as SkyPriority and KLM’s Meet & Seat.
Born in Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, Holtus holds a Master’s degree in Business Economics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is fluent in Dutch and English, with working experience in German and Spanish.
“I am honored to rejoin the region at such an exciting time for aviation in Africa,” he said. “The East, Southern and West African markets are full of opportunity and innovation. I look forward to working with our teams and partners to further enhance connectivity and customer service”.
Holtus assumes leadership of the region as the Air France–KLM Group continues to expand its footprint across East Africa. Recently, Air France launched flights to Kilimanjaro, marking its entry into northern Tanzania and underscoring its commitment to broadening its global network and enhancing connectivity to and from Africa. Air France also operates daily direct flights from Nairobi, Kenya to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, strengthening its presence in the region.
Meanwhile, KLM provides convenient access to Dar es Salaam via Amsterdam with seven weekly flights. The airline also serves Kilimanjaro five times a week and Zanzibar twice a week, offering travellers more flexible options within Tanzania.
About the Air France–KLM Group
A global player with a strong European base, the Air France-KLM Group’s main areas of business are passenger transport, cargo transport and aeronautical maintenance.
Air France-KLM is a leading airline Group in terms of international traffic on departure from Europe. It offers its customers access to a worldwide network, covering over 300 destinations thanks to Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Transavia, mainly from its hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol.
Its Flying Blue frequent flyer programme is one of the leaders in Europe with over 20 million members.
Together with its partners Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic, Air France-KLM operates the largest transatlantic joint venture, with more than 340 daily flights in 2019.
Air France-KLM is also a member of the SkyTeam, the alliance dedicated to providing passengers with a more seamless travel experience at every step of their journey with 19 member airlines working together across an extensive global network.
Recognized for 18 years as an industry leader in sustainable development, the Air France-KLM Group is determined to accelerate the transition to more sustainable aviation
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