WestJet has appointed Kirsten de Brujin as executive vice president, cargo. She will join the company’s executive leadership team later this month, following a successful immigration process.

De Brujin has more than 15 years in the airline industry. She most recently served as senior vice president cargo sales and network planning at Qatar Airways. There, she managed the airline’s global cargo sales organisation including product development and marketing and was responsible for the freighter network planning department.

Prior to her tenure at Qatar Airways, de Brujin served as vice president, cargo pricing and interline at Emirates Sky Cargo.

“Kirsten has demonstrated consistent and proven success in driving strategic growth for an impressive portfolio of cargo businesses around the globe,” said WestJet’s CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech. “As WestJet Cargo enters a pivotal moment of providing much-needed competitive choice and prices to customers across our network and beyond, there is no better leader for the task.”

De Bruijn is expected to play an instrumental role in building the airline’s dedicated cargo capabilities and service offerings, while growing “a cargo organisation capable of succeeding within a rapidly evolving market”.

“I am thrilled to be joining WestJet Cargo as the business sets sights on a competitive and aggressive expansion,” said de Brujin. “With such a strong foundation supported by a growing fleet, team and complementary network, I am confident that WestJet Cargo has a bright future ahead as we strive to bring customers more choice and the caring customer service akin to the WestJet brand.”

Von Hoensbroech also thanked Charles Duncan, EVP cargo and president, Swoop, for his “dedication and contributions to building an incredible foundation for WestJet Cargo, enabling the cargo function to expand and evolve in an extremely competitive market”.