Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has announced new management hires at London Stansted Airport (STN) and East Midlands Airport (EMA).

Gareth Powell takes on the role of Managing Director for the former, while Steve Griffiths has been named in the same post for the latter.

Charlie Cornish, Chief Executive Officer, MAG said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Gareth to the business. His considerable operational, commercial and strategic experience will make him a great addition to our executive team and help us realise our ambitions for London Stansted.

“I would also like to thank Steve for his achievements during his time at Stansted. He will take this experience and acumen to East Midlands, as we look to maximise the role it plays in supporting UK global trade.

“Steve’s track record speaks for itself, having navigated Stansted successfully through the pandemic and overseen an impressive recovery. He will bring this considerable experience to East Midlands, as we look to maximise the contribution it makes both for passengers from across the Midlands and to driving global trade.”

Driving the recovery curve

Powell arrives at Stansted following 19 years working for Transport for London (TfL), most recently as Deputy Commissioner and Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, responsible for leading TfL’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

At TfL, he managed around £5 billion in revenue, a workforce exceeding 3,000 people and key stakeholder relationships including with the Mayor of London, the Greater London Authority and the Department for Transport.

Powell said: “This is an exciting time to be joining the country’s leading group of airports and taking the reins at London Stansted.

“The whole team at Stansted has done a superb job seeing it through the challenges of the pandemic and coming out the other side as one of the top performing airports in the UK. I can’t wait to get stuck into continuing that solid recovery, growing the airport sustainably, and providing the best possible service to our passengers and airlines.”

Meanwhile, Griffiths has moved from London Stansted, where he led the business through the Covid-19 pandemic and drove its swift recovery from the crisis.

He assumes an expanded MD role, accountable for the financial, commercial and operational performance at the airport including group-wide responsibility for MAG’s operational transformation across its three airports.

Griffiths commented: “East Midlands Airport is one of the most important airports in the whole country, forming the backbone of express freight that powers the growth of advanced manufacturing and other high-value industries. It is the hub that connects customers across England, Scotland and Wales to the world’s most important markets.

“I am looking forward to working with the fantastic team at East Midlands to further strengthen that critical national role and realise the huge potential of the Freeport, while continuing to deliver excellent customer service to our loyal passenger base and supporting our local communities.

“Alongside my leadership of East Midlands Airport, delivering our Operational Transformation Programme will be fundamental to MAG’s growth across the Group. I want to capitalise on the unique opportunity we have as a national airport operator to lead the way with how to run airports that customers want to use and airlines want to fly from.”