The board of Waterford Airport has appointed Desmond O’Flynn as Chief Executive following the departure of Graham Doyle, who had held the role for over six years.
Most recently Director of Aéroport de Dijon-Bourgogne in France, Desmond is originally from Dublin and has also previously held senior management roles at Ireland West Airport Knock and at Aéroport de Deauville-Normandie.
Dan Browne, Chairman, Waterford Airport, said: “We are delighted to be bringing on board an experienced person who has worked in this country and in Europe. Desmond joins at an important time for Waterford Airport and I know that he is looking forward to working with the team here to develop the business further and to seize the opportunities that exist to grow the business in a sustainable way.”
Desmond O’Flynn said: “I am delighted to have been selected to lead the next phase of development at Waterford Airport. In common with other regional airports, Waterford has been seriously challenged by the economic environment over the past five years, but good leadership has brought it through that and the opportunity is now there to move forward with development.
“I was particularly encouraged in this regard by the commitment of Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, in providing funds to further improve safety and allow the airport explore options to extend its runway.”
Identifying some of his own priorities in the role, which he will take up in mid-November, Desmond added: “Clearly, we need to expand the range of destinations to which Waterford is connected. At the moment, business and leisure passengers make good use of the existing Flybe routes to Birmingham and Manchester, but there remains considerable demand for a resumption of direct services to one of the main London airports.
“As well as working with airline partners, I also see an important part of my remit as being to drive progress on the infrastructure investment at the airport so that the facilities here match our ambition.”
