THE Board of the Shannon Airport Authority has announced the appointment of Neil Pakey as the company’s new Chief Executive.
With over 30 years’ experience in the industry and a strong track record in delivering airport passenger and revenue growth, Mr Pakey has been Senior Director with the Vantage Airports Group since 2010 with responsibility for 18 airports in Canada, Cyprus, the Caribbean and the UK.
From 2002 to 2010, he was Managing Director of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, one of Europe’s fastest growing airports, where he led the growth in passenger numbers from 867,000 passengers per year to 5.5 million passengers per year. He also held senior management positions at Manchester airport where he helped grow passenger numbers from less than 6 million passengers per year to more than 16 million passengers per year.
He has also held senior positions with Air Seychelles and British Caledonian Airways, and was seconded as the UK National Expert in the aviation division of the European Commission from 1991 to 1994, supporting the development of the EU air liberalisation programme. He also chaired the UK Airport Operators Association for three successive terms.
Stating that he was honoured to be offered the opportunity to lead Shannon airport, Mr Pakey said he was attracted to the role largely because of the strong commitment to teamwork and stakeholder engagement of the new Board of Directors.
“My aim is to build the business and lead a team dedicated to achieving operational excellence, superior customer service, efficiency in all functions and with full support for our airlines, partners and stakeholders“, he said.
A native of Troon in Scotland, he takes up his new role position on June 10. His appointment is for a three year term.
Rose Hynes, Chairman of Shannon Airport, said she was delighted to announce the appointment which would benefit not only Shannon Airport and the Mid-West but also the Irish economy as a whole. Neil takes on the job at a very important and challenging time for the company and I am confident that he will do an outstanding job.”
Transport Minister Leo Varadkar welcomed Mr Pakey’s appointment as CEO saying that he bought a wealth of experience in the aviation sector and an understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing Shannon airport.
“The Government set Shannon on a new strategic direction by granting it full independence from the Dublin Airport Authority almost six months ago. Mr Pakey will lead Shannon Airport as it sets out on its own path to secure financial and commercial success, now free to determine its own future.”
“A key priority for the new CEO and the new board of Shannon Airport will be to arrest the decline in passenger numbers which has been the trend for the last five years, and then reverse it.”
“Mr Pakey will also become the CEO of the new Shannon entity to be formed from the merger of Shannon Airport with a restructured Shannon Development, which will develop a broadly-based aviation industry cluster in and around the airport providing a strong employment stimulus in the Shannon region. The drafting of the Bill to provide for this merger will be carried out over the summer and will be brought through the Houses of the Oireachtas during the autumn session”, the Minister concluded.
