The Dubai-based travel giant said that Smith – who has been at Gold Medal since May 2013 – will step up on a temporary basis as the recruitment process to replace Gold Medal and Travel 2 managing director Andy Freeth, sales director Gordon McCreadie and three others gets under way.

Their exit from the business comes just weeks after Andrew Botterill, dnata Travel Europe’s chief executive for its business-to-business brands announced his departure after 17 years with Stella Travel Services, which was sold to dnata in October 2014.

In a statement, the company confirmed the departure of Freeth, McCreadie, director of product and commercial Matt Appleby, head of sales Tracy Docherty, and business manager David Irving and stressed that Gold Medal and Travel 2 would continue business as normal.

“We are in the process of appointing their replacements,” said the statement. “Our team remains committed to providing our customers the excellent service levels they are accustomed to receiving.

"Dnata Travel’s B2B division has built a strong and healthy foundation over the years to offer an almost unmatched depth and breadth of products and expertise. We will continue to invest in developing our trade business in the UK, as we move into the next exciting stage of our evolution.”