Executive shake-up for owner of Aberdeen and Glasgow airports

The owner of Aberdeen and Glasgow airports has undertaken a number of new appointments to its executive committee.

Mark Johnston takes up the new role of chief operating officer for AGS Airports, which owns Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, among other executive changes.

Mark Johnston takes up the new role of chief operating officer for AGS Airports, which also owns Southampton airport.

During his near-16 years with the group, Johnston has held a series of senior management roles including managing director of Glasgow Airport. He will reporting to AGS chief executive Derek Provan.

Gillian Bruton has joined the group as chief financial officer, having previously held the position of finance director for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL), which owns and operates 11 airports around Scotland. This was a joint appointment with Caledonian Maritime Assets.

Roger Hunt takes on the new role of chief of business services, which will see him lead several critical support functions within the group including human resources, capital and planning, innovation, IT and procurement. Hunt has held a series of senior positions across Aberdeen Airport and the wider group during the last decade.

Matt Wood has joined AGS as commercial director. Wood is described as an “established aviation professional” with more than 15 years’ experience across airlines and airports.

Starting his career at EasyJet within the network and airport development field he has also worked for Wizz Air, Spanair and Gatwick Airport as the head of airline relations. Wood joins the group from Norwegian where he has held a number of senior roles in network, strategy and commercial management.

Meanwhile, Mark Beveridge and Ronald Leitch have been appointed to the operations director roles at Aberdeen and Glasgow, respectively, with Steve Szalay continuing in the same position at Southampton Airport.

Provan said: “The AGS group and the wider aviation industry have faced huge challenges that would have been inconceivable just 12 months ago.

“The pathway to recovery begins now and while the months and years ahead of us will be difficult, I’m confident that the wealth of experience and expertise brought by our new executive committee will be key to ensuring AGS Airport is a strong position to build back better.”

AGS was established in 2014 to invest in Aberdeen International, Glasgow and Southampton airports and is the second largest airport group in the UK.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions