About
Who is Abilash Kurien?
A commercial strategy and network planning executive with twenty-five years in international aviation and logistics, based in Connecticut.
About
A commercial strategy and network planning executive with twenty-five years in international aviation and logistics, based in Connecticut.
I spent twelve years at Lufthansa Cargo and thirteen at Polar Air Cargo, on the side of the business that decides which freight to carry, where the aircraft go, and what to charge. At Polar I was Vice President of Marketing, Revenue Management and Network Planning, and part of the leadership team that grew the fleet from six aircraft to seventeen.
From 2022 to 2025 I built something much smaller and, in its own way, harder: an indoor soccer and entertainment venue in Stamford, Connecticut, from an empty building to a working business. Different scale, same questions — capacity, pricing, and what customers will actually show up for.
I write about the commercial side of moving freight — network economics, capacity, forecasting — here and in shorter form on LinkedIn. In 2021 I was interviewed by Cargo Magazine on digitisation in air cargo (PDF, page 66).
Career
Built a tech-enabled indoor soccer and entertainment venue from the ground up — staffing, operations, and customer experience — and took an in-venue sports bar through the full licensing process to diversify revenue.
Joined as Director of Business Development and Excellence in 2008 and worked up from there, appointed Vice President in 2014. Directed multinational teams across corporate sales, marketing, network planning, revenue management, and reporting, and partnered with senior leadership on a fleet expansion from six aircraft to seventeen.
Twelve years and seven leadership promotions. Directed regional sales, operations, pricing, and profitability across multiple U.S. markets — a $10M sales portfolio, 33,000 annual tons of cargo handling, and a 50-person organization. Recipient of the Lufthansa Cargo Oscar for Individual Achievement.
FAQ