Glasgow Airport boss handed remit for new operator
AGS Airports, a partnership between Spanish group Ferrovial and Australia’s Macquarie, officially took ownership of the three facilities yesterday following October’s £1 billion-plus deal with previous owner Heathrow Airport Holdings.
McMillan will “work closely” with the chairman of AGS, Sir Peter Mason, to oversee operations while allowing each airport to be managed locally.
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Hide AdHer role will include management of the Glasgow-based “support services” team, as well as further strengthening external relationship and assisting shareholders in governance and planning, AGS said.
She will retain her full-time role as managing director of Glasgow, while Carol Benzie and David Lees remain heads of Aberdeen and Southampton respectively.
McMillan joined Heathrow Airport Holdings from Diageo in 2005, initially working in the business support centre before moving to Glasgow Airport a year later. A qualified chartered accountant, she is also a non-executive director with Business Stream and in June 2013 was awarded an OBE for her services to business and tourism.
She said yesterday: “This is a great opportunity at a very exciting time [for] our airports. In addition to continuing as managing director of Glasgow Airport, my role will be to support the new owners and local management, while allowing the airports to operate individually.”
Ferrovial paid £10.6bn for BAA at the top of the market in 2006 and retains a 25 per cent stake in the scaled-back group, now known as Heathrow Airport Holdings.
Global Infrastructure Partners bought Gatwick Airport from BAA in 2009 for £1.5bn and three years later acquired Edinburgh for £807m, while last year Stansted was sold for £1.5bn to the Manchester Airport Group.
Founded in 1969, Macquarie has assets under management of more than £237bn.
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