The Airport Operator | Autumn
06 October 2025
Stewart Wingate, the new Managing Director overseeing London Gatwick, Edinburgh and Belfast International airports, has outlined growth plans for all three, backed by the unrivalled financial firepower of the airports’ owners
Speaking to The Airport Operator at Gatwick Airport, just days into his newly created role of UK Managing Director for VINCI and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Wingate, who was Chief Executive at Gatwick for over 15 years, underlined “the credibility of our investors”. He noted that the airports’ investors “certainly have the appetite to fund the Gatwick project that we as the management have taken forward to bring our Northern Runway into routine use. Our investors fully support the management plans, and they have encouraged us every step of the way to bring these plans forward”.
The Northern Runway plans were given the green light by Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, on 21 September. Wingate said her announcement was “another important gateway in the planning process for this £2.2bn investment”
Setting out his new role as UK Managing Director, Wingate said “essentially my role will be to work with the CEOs and to have a particular focus on the strategic development of each of the airports. The CEOs, who will report into me, will be the people who are leading their airports. I will be there to be, on the one hand, a sounding board, but, on the other hand, to be involved in the strategic direction that the airports will take and I am really looking forward to doing that”...
