Two new appointments at Manchester Airport

The Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has announced Penny Coates as new chief operating officer to manage its airports in Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside.

Coates is the current managing director of the Group’s smaller airports, and said she wanted to take the business “to the next stage in its development.

The group has also confirmed that Andrew Harrison will take over as its new managing director for Manchester Airport, who will replace Andrew Cornish. Harrison is currently commercial director at the airport and oversaw the £80m redevelopment of three terminals.

Coates is the current managing director of the Group’s smaller airports, and said she wanted to take the business “to the next stage in its development.”

Harrison said: “Over the last three years, we have made a massive investment in both Manchester Airport’s facilities and our ability to deliver excellent customer service. I am looking forward to building on these foundations and leading our fantastic team to take full advantage of the economic recovery and deliver the benefits that the business brings to the North West region.”

Both will take up their new roles from 15 September. The post of East Midlands Airport’s managing director will be advertised internally across MAG with any appointment also likely to be effective from September.

Geoff Muirhead CBE, group chief executive of MAG, said: “This move comes at a time of significant change for MAG and is a major opportunity for the business to continue to strengthen our industry leading position.”

Manchester, East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth airports currently serve a total of more than 23.9m passengers each year.