Ron Schipper

Mr. Ron Schipper started his career in aviation in 1969 by joining KLM as a cabin attendant. Ron Schipper flew for 3 years and was then transferred to cabin crew management where he worked in various management positions until 1979. He left the Netherlands in 1980 for his first posting as Manager Cabin Crew seconded to Nigeria Airways in Lagos. In 1982 he was appointed Sales Manager Kenya based in Nairobi after which he was transferred to the UK in 1984 as District manager Northern England based in Manchester.

In 1986 Ron was appointed as General Manager Ghana and in 1989 he spent a brief period in France as interim General Manager France based in Paris before returning to the Netherlands to take up the appointment of Executive Secretary of the Passenger Division. In 1991 he was seconded to Antillean Airlines in Curacao as Managing Director. In 1994 Ron was appointed as VP Africa based in Johannesburg and in 2004 the Near East was added to his area of responsibility. Ron retired from KLM in 2008 and continues to live in Johannesburg. During his period as VP Africa he has been instrumental in the process to link KLM to Kenya Airways which he considers as one of the milestone in his career. Ron has served as Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce South Africa / the Netherlands, is member of the staff and remuneration committee of the KQ Board, is Board Member of Precision Air and serves as Board Member of AviAssist, a Dutch foundation with focus on African Aviation Safety.