Dubai Airports appoints new leaders for DXB operations and cybersecurity

DXB strengthens operations and cybersecurity leadership ahead of its next growth phase

Last updated: July 23, 2026 | 11:46

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

Dubai Airports appoints new leaders for DXB operations and cybersecurity

Dubai: Dubai Airports has appointed three senior leaders to strengthen the operational and technology teams responsible for Dubai International and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International Airport.

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The changes cover airport operations, the Airport Operations Control Centre and cybersecurity, with Dubai Airports preparing for further passenger and capacity growth across the two airports.

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Kan Ni has been promoted from Vice President of the Airport Operations Control Centre to Senior Vice President of Airport Operations, while Khalid Ishaq moves from Head of AOCC Integration to Vice President of AOCC.

Ahmad Al Bastaki has joined Dubai Airports as Vice President of Technology Operations and Cybersecurity within the Business Technology division.

Focus on airport operations and resilience

Each appointment reflects Dubai Airports’ continued investment in leadership capabilities needed to support the growth and ambitions of Dubai’s aviation sector.

Our ability to deliver safely, efficiently and at scale depends on the strength of our people, the resilience of our systems and the way we work together as one airport community. These appointments reinforce the leadership capability we need for the future, combining specialist technology expertise, deep operational experience and strong Emirati talent in areas that are increasingly central to airport performance and resilience.

Majed Al Joker, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Airports

Kan Ni and Khalid Ishaq will take senior roles within the AOCC, which serves as the real-time operational centre coordinating the movement of about 200,000 passengers through DXB each day.

Kan Ni takes wider operations role

Kan Ni has played a central role in developing the AOCC into a platform for coordinated and data-led decision-making across the airport’s operations.

He recently led teams through a period of regional airspace constraints, working with partners across the aviation network during a rapidly changing operating environment.

His promotion expands his responsibilities from the control centre to the wider airport operations function.

Khalid Ishaq, who joined Dubai Airports in 2005, moves into the Vice President role after two decades working across the organisation’s operational systems.

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Dubai Airports said Emiratis now represent 75% of its management team, supporting national employment and development priorities, including Nafis and the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

Cybersecurity leadership strengthened

Ahmad Al Bastaki will lead cybersecurity, service management and infrastructure operations across Dubai Airports.

The role covers the systems and digital services required to maintain airport performance and operational resilience.

Dubai Airports said the appointments support its continued focus on operational excellence, guest experience, digital transformation and future capacity.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.