The Airport Operator
Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE is Chair of the Airport Operators Association.
When I became AOA Chair in 2019, I could not have imagined the crisis that would engulf our sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this unimaginably difficult time, airports have showed resilience and fortitude to keep going even with the lack of a specific financial package and the continual chopping and changing of rules concerning international travel.
Airports have dealt with this unprecedented challenge by taking steps to safeguard operations, their financial future and staff, although given the scale of the pandemic’s impact, airports have also had to make difficult decisions around redundancies. Even amidst the crisis, airports continued to provide lifeline services to the Highlands & Islands communities and the UK Crown Dependencies and freight services to ensure vital supplies (including medical supplies) arrived in the UK.
