Lindsay White has always had an eye on travelling and now, as country manager for Etihad Airways in Malaysia, another chapter opens for the adventurous Scotsman, AREF OMAR writes.

GET him on the skybridge linking the two tallest structures in Kuala Lumpur and he's all jelly in the knees. But with feet firmly planted to the ground, the sky is the limit for Lindsay White, country manager of Etihad Airways, in his quest to pilot the airline to newer heights.

"It's really not that bad. I just don't like heights," says White, seated comfortably in the conference room of the company's temporary office on the 36th floor of Menara Maxis, the Petronas Twin Towers visible through the wide glass screen behind him.

"I'm quite fine with flying in an aircraft. I wouldn't be in the business otherwise," says White with a reassuring smile.

He recalls a harrowing experience in Caracas, when he and a group of friends went on a Teleferico cable car ride up to Mount Avila which, despite its exquisite panorama was anything but. "We could have driven up but, no, someone had to suggest taking the cable car instead. Halfway up, the cable car stopped. So there we were, stuck in the middle of this beautiful but gaping gorge, dangling like a pendulum for about 10 minutes," says White, laughing.

As a young lad growing up during the 60s in the industrialised city of Glasgow, known for shipbuilding, White had a natural predilection for travelling.

"I was the rebellious sort who just wanted to get out there, earn some money and see the world," says White in a distinct singsong Scottish accent.

"My initial thoughts were to join the royal navy or the merchant navy. I'd get an apprenticeship and work my way from there to satisfy my wanderlust.

"A friend and I shared the same idea but in our funny youthful naivety, decided to look for alternatives when we discovered we couldn't get on the same ship," he says.

With the plan going down to Davy Jones' locker, he decided to get into the travel business instead, working for an agency in Scotland where he built strong relationships with sales people from all different airlines.

But it would be a six-year detour, working in a bank in Scotland, before he joined British Caledonian Airways in the 80s.

"It's a very challenging industry that's changing all the time. There's never a dull moment," says White, who worked for British Airways after a merger with British Caledonian Airways in 1988.

He then moved to Gulf Air, which brought him to Malaysia. He joined Etihad Airways early this year. The national airline of the United Arab Emirates received the World's Leading New Airline of the Year Award in 2004, 2005 and 2006 at the World Travel Awards and the World's Leading Flatbed Seat Award in 2006.

"It's a four-year-old company, so this means that Etihad has huge potential. A baptism of fire of sorts, it was just go, go, go from day one for me. But looking back, I loved every minute of it."

With over 25 years in the airline business, White has realised his dream of travelling, having been to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Taiwan, Venezuela and Colombia.

"Working for a high profile company like British Airways back then was a huge risk - of being kidnapped while I was posted in Columbia.

"As a safety measure I moved around in an armoured vehicle and I also had a personal bodyguard. It was odd having someone walk a few paces behind me everywhere I went," says White. Thankfully, nothing untoward happened during his tenure there.

So with many years spent abroad, does the highlander miss his home country?

"I'm very much in love with Scotland but the only thing that gets me down is the weather. If you do a fair bit of travelling, you get accustomed to nicer climates, whether it's Malaysia or Venezuela, which makes it hard for me to go back," says White. "But I do go back of course, for the holidays."