Heathrow appoints Copenhagen airport boss as new chief

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Heathrow airport has appointed the boss of Copenhagen airport as its new chief executive, handing Thomas Woldbye the task of repairing relations with airlines and restarting its controversial expansion plan.

Woldbye will replace current chief executive John Holland-Kaye later in the year, Heathrow said on Friday.

Holland-Kaye announced his departure in February, ending an almost 10-year term in which he steered the airport through the damage inflicted by the pandemic.

But the often tense relations with airlines broke down as Heathrow pushed to raise its landing charges in the aftermath of the crisis, leading to accusations of monopolistic behaviour and price gouging from carriers. 

The airport argues investment is at risk without higher fees, and has accused airlines of hypocrisy given the recent rise in air fares. 

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority in March ruled that Heathrow should cut its fees, but the years-long row has rumbled on with the Competition and Markets Authority currently studying twin appeals from the airport and airlines.

One industry executive said the decision to hire an external candidate to replace Holland-Kaye suggested the board was looking for a new and more conciliatory approach to relations with airlines.

Heathrow chair Lord Paul Deighton pointed to Woldbye’s “track record” at Copenhagen airport in “working closely with stakeholders to secure consensus and deliver positive results”.

But the move to Heathrow marks a significant step up for Woldbye. Heathrow handled an average of 1,280 flights per day in May, according to Eurocontrol air traffic data, almost double Copenhagen’s 666.

Woldbye will also be expected to focus on the airport’s operational resilience, following industry-wide problems last year, and relations with staff after a series of strikes this year.

Heathrow could scale up further if the airport pushes ahead with its long-running and controversial project to build a third runway at its congested west London site.

Holland-Kaye told the Financial Times this year that the airport was looking at “restarting the planning process”, after the project was put on hold in 2020 amid a fall in passenger numbers during the Covid-19 crisis.

A decision to submit a planning application would reignite the decades-long question over how to square the need for more airport capacity in south-east England with local concerns over noise and pollution, and the UK’s climate change commitments.

Woldbye has served as chief executive of Copenhagen airport since 2011, following a 27-year stint at shipping company AP Møller-Maersk.

He said he hoped to build on changes at the airport under Holland-Kaye, which had “successfully improved both the infrastructure and the service to passengers”.

“My ambition will be to make the airport even better for passengers, for airlines, the community and every part of the UK,” he added.