Former Manchester Airport boss to lead Liverpool John Lennon
THE former managing director of Manchester Airport is taking over at the helm of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Andrew Cornish, who has latterly worked for Irish carrier Aer Lingus, led Manchester Airport for five years until September 2010 and was also on the board of parent company Manchester Airports Group.
He is replacing LJLA’s current chief executive, Matthew Thomas, who is leaving to take up a senior position at the Vantage Airport Group, the Canada-based previous owners of the airport.
LJLA handled over 4.2 million passengers in 2013 with flights to over 50 destinations in the UK and across Europe. It is a significant driver of prosperity in the Liverpool City Region and the North West as a whole, bringing an estimated £300m per annum and supporting 4,750 jobs in the region.
Mr Thomas who will leave the post at the end of September said: “Working for Liverpool John Lennon Airport has been a tremendous experience for me and this was always going to be a difficult decision, but having overseen the recent change in ownership and the subsequent smooth transition into The Peel Group, this was a good time for me to pursue new challenges with Vantage Airport Group.
“The business is now in a great position to grow and I know that as I hand over the leadership to Andrew, the prospects for the Airport are excellent.”
New CEO Andrew Cornish added: ” have watched Liverpool’s progress carefully in recent years and with Peel’s investment back into the Airport I am very excited at being given the opportunity to now take the business forward.
“I am aware that much has been done by the staff at Liverpool to make it one of the UK’s best performing airports operationally. I am keen to build upon this reputation, to grow passenger numbers back to the levels seen prior to the recession and to give the people of the city region an airport they can be proud of.”
Airport chairman Robert Hough added: “Matthew has been instrumental in moving the company forward materially during his time in charge and I would like to thank him for all he has achieved. We are naturally sorry to see him leave. However I know the region will welcome Andrew in his new role as he uses his wealth of experience to help establish Liverpool as the airport of choice for passengers across the region.”
