Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport has appointed Sara Hales as its new general manager.
Hales will officially begin in the role at the start of May and be responsible for the day-to-day running of Australia’s newest airport, Wellcamp said on Friday.
Previously, Hales was the airport’s commercial manager, having started at Wellcamp four years ago as a community liaison consultant.
“I believe in what the airport can achieve for our community and look forward to continuing to work with our team to ensure its success,” Hales said in a statemenet.
The appointment followed Phil Gregory’s resignation as general manger in January 2017. Gregory, who has formed his own support services company, was Wellcamp general manager from 2013 until he left the Wagners-owned airport.
Wagners chairman John Wagner has been managing the airport’s operation on an interim basis since Gregory’s resignation, according to a report in Toowoomba’s The Chronicle newspaper.
Wellcamp commenced operations in November 2014, with QantasLink offering the first regular public transport (RPT) flights to Sydney.
Since then, the airport has added domestic services from Regional Express and Airnorth, while Cathay Pacific has a once weekly cargo flight to Hong Kong.
Built without government money and at a construction cost somewhere “south of $200 million”, the airport has a 2,800m runway capable of handling 747 aircraft and a terminal that has an initial capacity for 1.4 million passengers a year.
Hales said she would be focused on building on what had been achieved so far.
“I remember watching the first pour of concrete in the passenger terminal a few years ago, and John (Wagner) said to me – this is an historic moment. I thought to myself, all the moments are historic around here – and there have been many – it’s been quite a ride,” Hales said.
“The airport is such an interesting, diverse business. It’s fun, and it will make and is making an enormous difference to people lives. This excites me and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the business forwards.”
John Wagner said he was pleased to have appointed an internal candidate to the role.
“It’s great to see staff rise through the business ranks and look for opportunities to grow and develop within an organisation they are already invested in,” he said.
