Dubai: The chief executive of Dubai Airports has been selected for the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for the Queen’s birthday honours for 2015.
The honour for Paul Griffiths was in commemoration of his services to British prosperity in the UAE and to music, according to a statement.
“It came as a huge surprise and I am absolutely delighted at this honour. I think this award signifies the decades of close relationship between the UAE and the UK,” Griffiths told Gulf News on Saturday.
“It’s very rare for someone from outside the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to be awarded with this honour, so I am deeply humbled by this recognition. I am deeply honoured and deeply grateful… I am also extremely glad at being able to do something for Dubai and the UAE, as well as for my own country,” he said.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths plays his digital computer organ at his home in Dubai in 2012.
Griffiths, 57, began a career in the travel industry in 1977. In 1991, he joined Virgin Atlantic Airways upon the persuasion of its founder, Sir Richard Branson, before moving to the British Airports Authority in 2004, becoming the Chairman and Managing Director of Gatwick Airport. He held the position until 2007, when he was offered the top job for Dubai Airports.
“This award is also a recognition for everyone associated with Dubai Airports and who have helped grow it to the largest airport in the world,” Griffiths said. “Any award of this nature is not an award for an individual, but for the entire support system that has made Dubai International Airport what it is today. It is also the result of everyone at Dubai International contributing with their fantastic efforts and it’s a tremendous honour for them.”
Griffiths has also successfully blended his aviation career with active participation in music. An award-winning organ player, Griffiths grew up studying church music in the UK and also playing the piano, oboe and the harpsichord. He has performed organ recitals at St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and several English Cathedrals, and is the Vice-President and former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal College of Organists in the UK.
“I think there’s a great similarity between being a musician and leading a team in a big enterprise that is a 24x7 customer service-based enterprise,” Griffiths told Gulf News in an earlier interview. “You are trying to pull together in both fields a lot of intricate moving parts to make something that’s actually a fully-coordinated effort. When you are playing the organ or conducting an orchestra or running an airport, the techniques are largely the same and I think the skills require your brain to be wired in a particular way.”
He is also an active member of the community, with frequent performances of the organ for charitable initiatives at Dubai's churches.
But despite the years of public performances and his leadership positions, Griffiths said the CMG honour left him searching for words. “For the first time in my life, I have been left speechless, and normally I am not lost for words,” he said.
Speaking about the official ceremony that lies ahead, Griffiths said: “We will be invited to receive the award from Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace, and I am looking forward to the privilege of meeting the Queen in person.”
Others awarded from the UAE on the occasion of the Queen’s birthday are Robert Stokoe, Director of Jumeirah English Speaking School in Dubai, who received an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) for his services to education, and Sandra Owen, Governor at The British Community Assistance Fund received an MBE (Member of the British Empire) for her services to the British community in the UAE.
“From the building and designing of the UAE’s most iconic infrastructure to the running of its biggest projects, British contributions can be seen everywhere,” said Philip Parham, the British Ambassador to the UAE. “Honours bestowed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II are one way in which we are able to recognise the achievements of those who do so much to make us proud. I am therefore delighted that Sandra, Robert and Paul have been recognised in The Queen’s 2015 birthday honours list for their contributions, which have benefitted both the UK and the UAE. Congratulations to them all for their deserved recognition,” he said in a statement.
The top honours list for the Queen’s birthday this year sees knighthoods for comedian Lenny Henry, trade unionist Paul Kenny and singer-songwriter Van Morrison.
