Exclusive

By Ian McConnell

Business Editor

DEREK Provan has revealed his decision to depart as chief executive of Glasgow Airport’s owner next March.

Mr Provan, who has been chief executive of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports owner AGS Airports since April 2018, plans to move into “non-executive, business advisory-type roles”.

Contemplating key issues as the business emerges from the pandemic, Mr Provan highlighted the importance of local and central government support to ensure connectivity built up over the last two decades is not lost.

In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Mr Provan said: “This is my decision now to leave the business and I have to say it is probably one of the most difficult decisions I have made, primarily because the easiest decision would be to stay.”

The chief executive, who started a wide-ranging career in the aviation sector as a firefighter at Glasgow Airport nearly 25 years ago and has worked in senior roles at airports around the UK and at Budapest in Hungary, said: “I love AGS, the business, and I love the people that work within it. That is what makes it so difficult to make the decision.”

He added: “When I leave, it will be almost 25 years since I started. For me, that seemed like a natural milestone...to pursue new challenges outside executive management…If I was staying in executive management, I would stay in AGS.”

Mr Provan led the operational response to the terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport on June 30, 2007, and was able to oversee the reopening of the airport within 24 hours.

Reflecting on the character and spirit of the “people of Glasgow”, he recalled: “The car [used in the attack] was still wedged into the front of the building but people were walking past…[taking] photographs over the hoarding [screening the vehicle].”

AGS Airports is owned jointly by Spanish company Ferrovial and Australian group Macquarie’s European Infrastructure Fund 4 LP.

Glasgow-born Mr Provan noted his departure date of next March would enable him to oversee “the rebuilding of the business this year after two catastrophic years with the pandemic”.

He said: “What I have said to the shareholders, because I don’t have any actual plans moving forward, I am prepared to stay in post and we have agreed I will stay in post til March 31, 2023.”

Mr Provan highlighted expectations that passenger numbers in 2022 would be about 70 per cent of those in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. Glasgow Airport handled 8.8 million passengers in 2019 and expects the total to be about six million this year.

Noting the fact that a large part of travel this year comprised trips delayed by the pandemic, Mr Provan estimated that passenger numbers would also be around 70% of the 2019 figure in 2023.

He said: “We are looking to get back to 2019 or even slightly better than 2019 levels by 2025.”

Mr Provan added: “I guess for me the future now for AGS is just how we start growing back the business. The fact…we are a vital piece of the fabric of the country needs to be recognised at local and central government level to ensure we don’t lose the connectivity we have built over the last two decades.”

He reflected on the challenges created for the aviation industry by the UK Government’s ending of the coronavirus job retention scheme last September, given the sector faced effective “lockdowns” subsequently, including over the key Christmas period.

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Mr Provan said: “The furlough scheme was really beneficial because it enabled us to keep people employed. When they closed the furlough scheme in September, what the industry was asking was the industry got some additional help during that time. Then we went back into lockdowns over the Christmas period.”

He flagged the relatively short security waiting times at Glasgow Airport, declaring no one had missed a flight because of queues. Some UK airports operated by others have faced greater challenges on this front.

Commenting on general capacity pressures faced by the sector, Mr Provan said: “It was clear when we did open back up there was two years of pent-up demand. When (Government) ministers said aviation should have foreseen this was going to happen, aviation did foresee this was going to happen but it is impossible to recruit and bring people into a business that the Government has closed. It was an opportunity that was lost by the Government – they could have done better at the time.”

Lena Wilson, who chairs AGS, highlighted Mr Provan’s achievements.

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She said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Derek for his leadership and unwavering commitment to AGS. Not only has he navigated AGS through the recent downturn which brought much of our industry to a standstill, he has fostered extremely positive relationships with local and national government and, perhaps more importantly, with all our employees.

“Derek is one of the most talented leaders I have had the privilege to work with and we wish him well in his next exciting chapter. We are grateful he has agreed to remain in post as we work to appoint a successor.”

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Mr Provan highlighted a major shift at AGS in the way the business looks at itself.

He said: “We changed the way we looked at ourselves internally. We realised we were more than a bottom line.”

Noting the part played by AGS’s airports in supporting the “regions”, generating economic growth and providing jobs and helping people within these areas prosper, Mr Provan added: “We have changed the culture of the business to think of ourselves as that, rather than think of ourselves as a P&L, a profit and loss, operation.

“I will leave AGS with real pride that we have a business now that thinks about the value it delivers to the regions and the country, rather than the value it delivers to itself and the shareholding.”

Reflecting on the character of Glasgow Airport and its passengers, Mr Provan said: “I suppose the thing that always brings a smile to my face – you are always bound to see a stag party or a hen party – men dressed as brides is a pretty normal experience at Glasgow Airport.”

He flagged as key achievements the expansion of capacity at Glasgow Airport to enable it to handle the Airbus A380. He also highlighted a major expansion of the airport terminal at Aberdeen.

Reflecting on his career, he added: “I certainly never came into Glasgow Airport as a firefighter thinking I would leave it as a chief executive. It is 25 years – it sounds like a long time. I can say with all honesty it feels like a couple of years. I love the airports. I love the industry. It has been phenomenal. I have always said every job I have left has been the best job I have ever had. That remains true today.”