Balkiz Sarihan leads Airbus’ Urban & Advanced Air Mobility, with a focus on developing the market, industry, business, and service ecosystem to develop advanced air mobility solutions. Airbus is shaping the future of AAM/UAM with its vehicle CityAirbus NextGen as well as investments in key technologies as part of its decarbonisation roadmap. Sarihan combines elements from a diverse career in Programme, Operations, Business, and Strategic roles in both North America and Europe, with the ability to translate vision into a shared path of execution. With a customer-centric focus, she is a believer in business with a purpose, a creator of connections, and a constant collaborator. Sarihan is a proven business builder with previous successes in setting up and leading green field ventures through concept to delivery and execution. These include classic businesses such as aircraft leasing and digital platform ecosystems to build the next generation advanced medical systems. Previously, she led Business Development, Operations and Commercial activities at Vector Aerospace in Canada for close to eight years before joining Airbus Helicopters in 2015. Sarihan holds an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University following her Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia, Canada.

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