New CEO Thomas Woldbye Takes Charge at Heathrow, Focused on Service, Sustainability, and Growth
- Thomas Woldbye has officially taken over as Heathrow CEO
- His arrival marks a new chapter for Heathrow that will push innovation in passenger service, sustainability and growth at the airport over the next decade
- He is spending his first day meeting colleagues across the airport seeing first-hand what goes into making Britain’s hub one of the top 10 airports globally
London, UK, 2023-Oct-20 — /Travel PR News/ — Thomas Woldbye has officially taken the helm of the UK’s hub airport this morning following the departure of former CEO John Holland-Kaye. As a champion of passenger service, sustainability and growth, Thomas’s arrival opens a new chapter in Heathrow’s story after a decade of transformation.
On his first day, Thomas is meeting colleagues across Heathrow to see first-hand what makes it one of the world’s top airports. As new CEO, Thomas will oversee the airport’s multi-billion pound plans to upgrade existing facilities over the next three years to provide an even better service for passengers, including the next generation security programme and new baggage system for Terminal 2.
As the UK’s hub airport, Heathrow’s success is built on collaborative relationships with local communities, Team Heathrow partners including airlines and ground handlers and stakeholders across sustainability, business and politics. Thomas will spend the coming weeks getting to know these stakeholders and hearing their thoughts on how to further improve the airport.
Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said:
“The UK already has a hub airport that is the envy of much of the world. As I spend my first days getting to know the colleagues and Team Heathrow partners who make it a success, I’m looking for how we can make Heathrow even better for our customers and the British economy. It’s humbling to have the opportunity to take on the challenge and I’m excited to get started.”
Thomas succeeds John Holland-Kaye who served as Heathrow’s CEO for over nine years. John set a strong example in his unyielding dedication to his colleagues and left behind a legacy of having transformed Heathrow into a premier global hub, developed the plan for Heathrow expansion that secured overwhelming Parliamentary approval, navigated the business through extremely challenging times during the COVID-19 and enabled Heathrow to recover faster from the pandemic than all of its major EU competitors and took a lead pushing global aviation towards net zero by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement.
Notes to Editors:
About Heathrow
Heathrow is the UK’s international gateway, the largest airport in Europe and the most connected megahub in the world. The airport welcomes over 200,000 passengers on roughly 1,300 flights each day, and serves as a Britain’s hub for trade, tourism and investment. Approximately 75,000 colleagues work at Heathrow – the airport directly employs about 10% of them, with the rest working for Team Heathrow partners including airlines, ground handlers and retailers.
About Thomas Woldbye
Thomas Woldbye was previously CEO of Copenhagen Airport from May 2011 – September 2023. Under Thomas’s stewardship, Copenhagen Airport was consistently rated as one of the world’s top airports, both in terms of customer and retail experience as well as efficiency and profitability. He worked in partnership with the unions in Denmark and put customers at the front of mind for all colleagues at the airport.
Previously, he worked for A.P. Møller-Maersk for 27 years. Thomas started his career as a management trainee in 1983, and over the next 20 years, he held several management positions in Indonesia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Denmark. During this period, he was primarily involved in the management of Maersk Line, the company’s worldwide container business. In 2004, Thomas took over as Group CEO of Norfolkline Group with headquarters in The Hague.
Thomas has an HD in Financing from Copenhagen Business School and professional qualifications from the London Business School and the IMD in Switzerland.
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Source: Heathrow Airport
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