Bristol Airport has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of three new directors. Jason Clark, pictured top, has joined as chief financial officer (CFO), bringing strong board level experience in finance positions, most recently as CFO for Condor Ferries, the main ferry operator between the UK, France and the Channel Islands. 
Graeme Gamble will join as chief operating officer to replace long-serving operations director Paul Davies, who retires at the end of this year.
Graeme, pictured centre, will arrive in January from NATS, the air navigation services provider, where he is currently responsible for air traffic control services at seven UK airports. Prior to this he spent two years with the Civil Aviation Authority as an aerodrome inspector and has also held key operational roles at London City Airport and Cardiff Airport.
Debbie Hartshorn, pictured below, has been promoted to the position of people director. Since joining Bristol Airport in May 2017, Debbie has overseen a review of its people strategy and led a renewed focus on training and development. Prior to joining Bristol Airport, Debbie held senior HR roles with SFC Group and Cotswold Archaeology.
Airport chief executive officer Dave Lees said: “These appointments complete a strong leadership team with the right mix of skills to steer the organisation through an exciting period of growth.
“Jason, Graeme and Debbie bring a wealth of experience from inside and outside the aviation sector which will help us achieve our ambition to make Bristol Airport the first choice for air travel to and from the South West of the UK.”
Expected to serve more than 8.5m passengers this year, Bristol is the ninth busiest airport in the UK, and England’s third largest regional airport.
A new masterplan is currently being prepared and will set out potential development required to handle up to 20m passengers per annum from the existing runway by the mid-2040s. The first phase of growth will be facilitated through the submission of a planning application to North Somerset Council later this year.
In June Bristol Airport was named ‘Best Airport in Europe’ in the 5-10m passenger category at the annual awards dinner held by European airports association, ACI Europe. Last month it was voted the UK’s best airport by the travel trade in the annual TTG Awards.
