David Soskin biography

Photograph © Sonal Patel

David Soskin
Chief Executive Officer

David Soskin joined Cheapflights Limited as CEO in March 2000 from ABN AMRO Corporate Finance, where he was head of global media. His previous experience includes the Boston Consulting Group and Redland Plc where he was Group Director of Corporate Planning. David founded the Asquith Court Schools Group in 1989 and remained as a director until 2001 when the company was sold to West Private Equity. In 1995, David’s entrepreneurial achievements were honoured by the European Foundation for Entrepreneurial Research when he was named as one of Europe’s 500 most dynamic entrepreneurs. He was educated at Oxford University (First Class Honours in Modern History, President of the Oxford Union) and the Harvard Business School (Harkness Fellow). David appears regularly on TV and radio (Bloomberg, CNBC, Sky, BBC ) talking about travel and the internet and is frequently invited as a speaker at travel and e-commerce conferences worldwide.

Hugo Burge biography

Photograph © Sonal Patel

Hugo Burge
Head of International
Vice-Chairman

In May 2003 Hugo set up the Cheapflights Boston office and launched www.cheapflights.com which is now a top 15 USA Travel Agent Website (Hitwise) and growing rapidly.

Hugo joined Cheapflights in March 2000 as an investor in the management led buy-in and came from an entrepreneurial background.

Graduating from Cambridge University with a Degree in Geography, Hugo has also qualified as a Company Secretary with ICSA.

He is a member of the Royal Geographical Society and, predictably, has a passion for adventure and travel.

Hugo has provided regular travel industry commentary to the media, including Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Frommers.com, Liberty Radio Broadcasting, Wall Street Journal, New York City morning radio show, Fox 5 News: Good Day New York, Bloomberg Radio, a Phocuswright Talkbacker and as well as a speaker at EyeforTravel events.

Chris Cuddy biography

Chris Cuddy
Group Managing Director, Ltd
President, Inc

Chris Cuddy joined the board of Cheapflights in October 2005. He has 20 years of experience in leading technology driven companies. Chris was previously CEO of the number two online advertising network Engage (NASDAQ), and has held leadership roles at Lightbridge (NASDAQ), CMGI (NASDAQ), Computer Science Corporation (NYSE), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE). Chris has been actively involved in launching high growth start ups as a Screening Committee Member of Launchpad Venture Group, and through his work with MECA software, Bluestreak online marketing, and Yokel product directory. Chris received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and his BS in Computer Science / Electrical Engineering from George Washington University. A longtime flight enthusiast, Chris earned his student pilots license while at school.

Simon Bicket biography

Simon Bicket
Finance Director

Simon Bicket joined Cheapflights as Director of Finance in January 2001 and was promoted to the Board as Finance Director in 2006.

Simon has 20 years of Board experience mainly in SMEs. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Binder Hamlyn in London in 1982 and left the profession for industry in 1986. He is also a Sloan Fellow of London Business School.

Prior to joining Cheapflights, Simon worked in software, engineering, and transport companies in both finance and general management roles.

Simon is a director of Dohop.com, the Iceland-based technology company in which Cheapflights purchased a stake in January 2007.

John Hatt biography

John Hatt
Founder, member of Advisory Board

John Hatt founded Cheapflights Limited in 1996 after ten years as Travel Editor of Harper’s & Queen. John is a Consultant Editor of Condé Nast Traveller. John has previously worked for the publisher Constable and after travelling extensively in Africa, Asia and the United States he wrote the Tropical Traveller, which went into three editions. John also ran his own publishing company, Eland, specialising in travel literature. He was educated at Oxford University.

Dan Bricklin biography

Dan Bricklin
Member of Advisory Board

Dan invented VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet. VisiCalc is widely credited for fuelling the rapid growth of the computer industry. He is currently President of Software Garden Inc, a developer of software applications which he founded in 1985. Dan has received many honours for his contribution to the computer industry from the ACM, IEEE, MIT, PC Magazine and numerous others. He was a runner-up for Time Magazine's Man of the Year. Dan holds a BS in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard University.