Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) chief executive officer Glen Sowry has announced he will be retiring from his role in June 2025.

Glen joined Queenstown Airport in September 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and has overseen a significant period of recovery for the airport, and the development of a 10-year strategic plan and related masterplan that will shape the future direction of the airport, QAC said in a statement.

Queenstown Airport chair Adrienne Young-Cooper acknowledged Glen’s contribution and leadership of the airport over the past three years.

“Glen has been an outstanding leader and will continue to lead the team at QAC until the middle of 2025,” she said. 

“The board has been discussing succession planning with Glen for some months as a normal part of good governance. We have commenced the recruitment process for a new chief executive and expect a smooth transition in mid-2025 to a new leader of QAC.”

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Glen said the past three years had been “both a challenging and exciting period to have been leading Queenstown Airport”. 

“From no flights in my first week in the role, to a full recovery to pre-Covid levels, and a clearly defined strategy and masterplan now approved and in delivery, it has been an exhilarating journey,” he said.

He said he was proud of the way Queenstown Airport had “recalibrated its approach to respond to the expectations and needs of the community it serves and its wide customer base through genuine and extensive engagement and consultation”.

Glen said he remained “fully committed” to leading Queenstown Airport for the next nine months.

PHOTO: Supplied