Thabet Musleh

Thabet Musleh serves as Chief Retail and Hospitality Officer at Qatar Airways. Thabet leads the group’s retail and food & beverage divisions at Qatar Duty Free (QDF), along with Internal Media Services, Dhiafatina Hotels, Catering, and Qatar Airways’ lounge businesses worldwide. 

Under Thabet’s leadership, QDF has grown to a talented team of over 4,000 employees that have each played a part in contributing to Hamad International Airport’s burgeoning reputation as an iconic global hub of retail and dining. Together, the QDF team has achieved record-breaking sales by focusing on Experiencentricity, offering something for everyone, regardless of budget or preference, and providing new pioneering concepts and activations in travel retail. 

Thabet was named one of The Moodie Davitt Report’s People of the Year in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 for his influential role at Qatar Duty Free, Hamad International Airport and within the wider travel retail industry. Additionally, he was recognised with an Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2023 Frontier Awards for his critical influence in progressing the quality and reputation of Hamad International Airport's retail and dining offer in recent years. 

Thabet brings a wealth of experience, with more than 20 years of experience in the travel retail sector. He joined Qatar Airways in 2015 as Head of Retail Operations for the national carrier’s duty-free business before being promoted to lead QDF in January 2018. He was then appointed as Vice President Operations in 2018; Vice President in 2021, and Senior Vice President in 2023, before his latest appointment to CRHO in 2024. Prior to joining QDF, he spent a decade at World Duty Free Group, holding senior roles across London’s three biggest airports: Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.