Paul Sies: “Time to say goodbye and thank you!”

Paul Sies officially departed his post as Cyprus Airways CEO last week, and has moved on to travel-tech company Journey Mentor as its president and Chief Executive Officer.

“Time to say goodbye and thank you!” he said on his LinkedIn. “Today marks my official last day at Cyprus Airways, a two-year journey that I have mostly treasured for the people I worked with, both internally and externally.”

He hailed their shared achievements, “and the daily challenges have fueled my enthusiasm to wake up each day and work together towards progress”.

When Sies arrived at Cyprus Airways two years ago, just after the pandemic, the airline faced daunting odds, he recalled: one aircraft, a tiny network, virtually no passengers, and a lack of strategic direction.

“Now, after two years of hard work, we have transformed the company into a recognised brand. We boast a clear fleet strategy, including six aircraft (four of which are the newest generation), and serve Cyprus year-round with an ever-expanding network. We transport hundreds of thousands of people to their destinations safely.”

He added, “While I am aware there is still much ground to cover, I take pride in having been part of this remarkable journey. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the shareholder, the board, the management, all the staff, and our strategic partners. Your participation, support, efforts, and friendship have been invaluable over the past two years. I look forward, in the future, to look back proudly and say that I contributed to the success of this company”.

Meanwhile, Journey Mentor announced this week that Sies will be joining the company as president and chief executive officer.

UK-based Journey Mentor offers small and medium-sized airlines, travel agents and TMCs a range of white-label services related to the travel ecosystem, including searching, booking, pricing, buying and inventory control.

“As I embark on a new journey with a different company and new colleagues, I hope it will be as challenging and rewarding as my time spent with Cyprus Airways,” Sies said in his post. “And who knows, our paths will cross again in this global yet tiny industry.”

Journey Mentor stated that Sies’ appointment is the latest step in the company’s strategy to steadily grow and develop the business.

As the CEO, Sies has been tasked with providing overall direction and leadership to the company and will be responsible for creating and implementing strategies to enable growth and drive profitability.

The company said that “Sies is renowned in the aviation and hospitality industries, having held board and C-level positions at various airlines and travel providers over the past 35 years”.

The announcement noted that during this period, Sies “has been instrumental in turning around challenged airlines and hospitality companies as well as launching new airlines”.

The company explained that during his two-year stint as Cyprus Airways CEO, Sies successfully created and implemented a new strategic plan and divided the business into three main revenue streams (ACMI, Charter and Scheduled Operations), implementing a new fleet, distribution and pricing strategy.

They added that he also built a network which resulted in Cyprus Airways returning to an important and successful player in Cyprus, offering year-round connectivity in a very seasonal market.

“I am most excited to join Journey Mentor. I have worked for over 35 years in the aviation and hospitality industries and have seen the challenges they have faced. More recently, they have been struggling to meet the increasing demands because of the limitations of ageing systems that were built 50 years ago,” Sies stated.

“Overcoming these technological limitations is something Journey Mentor has achieved and it’s a great pleasure to have the opportunity to start implementing this into the market and offer tailored solutions to travel agents, airlines, and many more players in the travel industry,” he added.