Thomas Woldbye has officially taken the helm of the UK’s hub airport this morning following the departure of former CEO John Holland-Kaye. As a champion of passenger service, sustainability and growth, Thomas’s arrival opens a new chapter in Heathrow’s story after a decade of transformation.

On his first day, Thomas met colleagues across Heathrow to see first-hand what makes it one of the world’s top airports. As new CEO, Thomas will oversee the airport’s multi-billion pound plans to upgrade existing facilities over the next three years to provide an even better service for passengers, including the next generation security programme and new baggage system for Terminal 2.

As the UK’s hub airport, Heathrow’s success is built on collaborative relationships with local communities, Team Heathrow partners including airlines and ground handlers and stakeholders across sustainability, business and politics. Thomas will spend the coming weeks getting to know these stakeholders and hearing their thoughts on how to further improve the airport.

Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said: “The UK already has a hub airport that is the envy of much of the world. As I spend my first days getting to know the colleagues and Team Heathrow partners who make it a success, I’m looking for how we can make Heathrow even better for our customers and the British economy. It’s humbling to have the opportunity to take on the challenge and I’m excited to get started.”

Thomas succeeds John Holland-Kaye who served as Heathrow’s CEO for over nine years. John set a strong example in his unyielding dedication to his colleagues and left behind a legacy of having transformed Heathrow into a premier global hub, developed the plan for Heathrow expansion that secured overwhelming Parliamentary approval, navigated the business through extremely challenging times during the COVID-19 and enabled Heathrow to recover faster from the pandemic than all of its major EU competitors and took a lead pushing global aviation towards net zero by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement.