Stobart Aviation boosts commercial development with BA hire

Former BA CityFlyer General Manager Luke Hayhoe has joined Stobart Aviation as it works to boost relationships with its customer airlines at London Southend Airport, Carlisle Lake District Airport and Teesside International Airport.

Luke, whose aviation career spans more than two decades, working across a variety of areas, joined the business as Aviation Business Development Director on Monday 9 September.

Luke was most recently with BA as General Manager Commercial and Customer for BA CityFlyer. During his time at BA CityFlyer, Luke led a team of more than 300 people, delivering profitable commercial growth at London City Airport as services expanded from just six routes to over 30.

Passenger numbers also grew at an impressive rate during Luke’s tenure – from 400,000 to nearly 3 million – amid the consistent delivery of exceptional customer experience on the ground and in the air.

Luke will be responsible for airline relationships, marketing and delivering passenger growth across the Stobart Aviation airports, with his main focus on London Southend Airport, London’s next big airport.

London Southend is rapidly growing, with circa 50% more customers so far this summer and Ryanair and Loganair recently starting operations at the airport. easyJet has also based a fourth aircraft at London Southend Airport, serving more than 30 destinations.

The airport’s award-winning offering – consumer group Which? recently named London Southend the best airport in London for the sixth year in a row – will further grow with the addition of Wizz Air with flights taking off to Central Europe in October and November.

Commenting on his appointment, Luke Hayhoe, said “It’s really great to be joining Stobart Aviation at such an exciting time, the passenger growth is really impressive. I’m looking forward to developing relationships with all of our customer airlines as well as welcoming new airlines so we can jointly add profitable growth, with a specific focus on delivering more than 5m passengers at London Southend Airport. London Southend has a fantastic customer proposition. It’s quick and easy to travel through, with excellent access from the heart of London with trains from London Liverpool Street in just over 50 minutes.”