Southampton Airport’s Managing Director Neil Garwood is to step down from his post in June after nearly a decade at the company.
Garwood joined Southampton Airport in 2010 after six years working at DB Schenker Rail. He was appointed Managing Director in June 2018.
His announcement, confirmed in a statement on the airport’s website, comes after the collapse of Flybe earlier this year. Flybe operated 90% of Southampton Airport’s flights between 1 January and 30 November 2019 according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA); the airport was put under inevitable pressure by the airline’s collapse.
In a statement, Garwood said:
Southampton Airport is a very special place for all those who work here, and now is a difficult time for everyone associated with our airport.
We have made huge progress on the planning application to deliver a much-needed longer runway. This will enable Southampton to offer more routes and choice for passengers, more jobs for local people and, vitally, provide a significant boost to the local and regional economy. We are closer than ever to making that a reality and I will be watching with huge interest to see those plans come to life in the years ahead.
Garwood has been responsible for overseeing the airport’s Master Plan, with a focus on delivering a 164m extension to the runway.
Derek Provan, chief executive of AGS Airports (which operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton Airports), said that “Neil is a valued member of the AGS team and has led on delivering the expansion plans of the airport”.
Current Managing Director of Aberdeen Airport, Steve Szalay, will take over as Operations Director at Southampton Airport as part of a process to “rebuild the business“. Szalay will take up the role on June 1.
