Christchurch Airport’s chief executive Malcolm Johns to leave in 2023

New Zealand’s Christchurch Airport has announced that its chief executive, Malcolm Johns, is to leave in 2023 after after nine years at the helm.

Board chair, Catherine Drayton, said: “The Board and executive have worked closely to build a strong team and company over the past decade, as the airport has navigated a number of consecutive and impactful external events, most recently the global pandemic.

“Post-earthquakes the company undertook a deliberate process of diversifying commercial risk, developing strong leadership across all layers of its teams and deepening its relationships with its customers.”

Drayton noted that during the pandemic the company’s stakeholder equity approach was to the fore as it deepened its customer relationships and support, worked hard to support the wellbeing of its team, and providing leadership growth opportunities for a range of senior and executive team members at many levels, all of which allowed it to maintain profitability and dividends.

“We used the pandemic period to enhance our customers relationships, tackle intergenerational strategic opportunities and cement the leadership strength of our whole team, which has performed exceedingly well,” noted Drayton.

As a result of its actions, she said, Christchurch Airport has a stronger balance sheet than before the pandemic and a new post-COVID strategy that focuses on growing the company’s business at its Christchurch campus, expanding its horizons with intergenerational projects such as the Central Otago airport project and the recently announced Kōwhai Park solar projects.

“The Board has had an enduring focus on building a strong internal leadership bench across the team at multiple layers,” added Drayton.

“Succession plans to ensure it can maintain momentum activating strategy as leadership transitions occur at different levels from time to time. Our customers, staff and business are well placed and the business is strategically and financially strong.”

The airport said that its Board will now commence a process of finding the next chief executive “to take the team to the next level, as the business progresses post-COVID and pursues intergenerational value and opportunities for our shareholders and stakeholders”.