American Airlines Cargo has appointed Richard Hartmann as its regional sales manager of cargo for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Hartmann took up the newly created role on July 2, 2015. He will be responsible for mature markets such as Italy and Scandinavia, and emerging markets such as India and the Middle East. He will also develop American’s presence in the African market.

“Our business is changing all the time, particularly with the advent of new aircraft on many routes, so there’s tremendous potential for growth of our cargo services, with Italy being the prime example in southern Europe,” said Hartmann. “There is also a real window of opportunity for us in many offline markets where I will be focusing attention on extending our business reach to many more forwarders.”

Hartmann has more than 30 years of air freight experience, and joined American Airlines Cargo in 2011 as a global key account manager, according to a statement.