UK. London City Airport has appointed Ian Cowie as new Director of Customer Operations, effective this month. He was formerly Managing Director of Scorpio Worldwide.
A spokesperson for London City Airport told The Moodie Davitt Report that the position had been “redefined”. It will focus on the passenger experience from getting off the Docklands Light Railway or other transport, processing through the terminal to boarding the flight, and vice versa for arriving customers.
The role does not specifically focus on the associated activities of retail or food & beverage services at the airport, though there are obvious connections and cross-over.
Cowie held the Managing Director role at Scorpio – the Heinemann co-owned brand and product supply partner to the global inflight retailing and travel retail market – from 2012 until mid-2017. He joined the company as Operations Director in 2010.
In his time as Managing Director he helped bring a number of global brands into the Scorpio portfolio including Victoria’s Secret, Revlon, Timberland, TomTom and TW Steel. After leaving the company, Cowie established consultancy GTR360, which worked with airlines, concessionaires and brands “to meet their full profit potential and achieve performance excellence”.
(Photo: Andrew Holt)
London City is London’s smallest airport but has one the most affluent passenger profiles due to its close proximity to the capital’s financial district. Traffic in 2017 was 4.5 million, flat versus 2016. Despite that, the gateway embarked on a £480 million (US$613 million) development programme last year.
London City Airport CEO Robert Sinclair said: “We are very confident about the long-term prospects for growth. This programme will transform the airport over the next four years, adding much needed capacity at peak, substantially enhancing the overall facilities and providing much more choice and flexibility for passengers at a time when the London airport system is already highly congested.”
