Hassan El-Houry is a business executive, emerging markets thought leader, and Group CEO of National Aviation Services (NAS).

NAS is the fastest growing aviation services provider in emerging markets, and the largest on the African continent. With a presence in more than 55 airports, the company operates in 23 countries including Kuwait, India, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates. An employee base of 10,000 is at the core of the business offering airport services, air cargo management and logistics, ground handling as well as airport technology solutions. NAS’s customer base includes seven of the world’s top ten airlines and key aviation hubs.

Under Hassan’s leadership, NAS has won several industry and technology awards such as "Best Ground Handling Company in Emerging Markets", “Handler-Airline Innovation”, “Best Aviation Deployment (ICT)” and “Employer of the Year” among others. Hassan was also recognized as a Changemaker in Technology most recently. Hassan is a regular participant at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, and was invited to its Global Agenda Dialogue on Aviation, Travel and Tourism. In 2014, the WEF honored Hassan as a Young Global Leader for his work in aviation and emerging markets, and invited him to the Forum’s Advisory Board. In addition, he was elected as Board Chair for two publicly listed companies in the Middle East, and serves on the board of several others in varied sectors including real estate, mining and public utilities. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization.

His debut book – Fly Africa, highlighting how aviation could become one of Africa’s greatest strengths, made it to the bestsellers list in the aviation and Africa category on Amazon. Hassan co-authored another book on the history of aviation in Kuwait and frequently contributes blogs and articles to various publications and online forums. A patron of several social responsibility initiatives, Hassan was instrumental in NAS’s exclusive partnership with Visa Free Africa that promoted mobility and free travel across the continent. During the pandemic, NAS launched the world’s first Covid passport to facilitate travel, and offered free online courses to aviation professionals across the globe to help them remain resilient through the crisis.

Hassan holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor's Degree from the American University of Beirut. He is based in both Kuwait City, and Boulder, Colorado – where his family resides.