QAC Directorship Recommendation

The Annual General meeting of the Queenstown Airport Corporation on 21 November, 2011 will be asked to consider a recommendation from the Council for the appointment of two new directors and the reappointment of a third, QLDC Mayor Vanessa van Uden said.

The Council was recommending the appointment of Grant Lilly - an Auckland-based company director and New Zealand Tourism Industry Association board member - and recently retired Managing Director of Todd Energy, Richard Tweedie of Wellington.

A lawyer by background Mr Tweedie has formerly chaired Liquigas Limited, Maui Development Limited and Greymouth Coal Limited. He remains chairman of Cue Energy and is a ratepayer of the Queenstown Lakes District.

Mr Lilly has had a strong affiliation with the airline industry, having previously served as a director with both Jetconnect Limited and Jetstar Airways Limited.

“Collectively these two gentlemen bring an enormous depth of knowledge to the board table. We are absolutely delighted with the prospect of having them contribute to the ongoing success of Queenstown Airport,” Mayor van Uden said.

The board would also be asked to consider a recommendation that QAC director Murray Valentine, who was due to retire at the AGM be reappointed for a further period of one year.

“We recently appointed a new chairman in John Gilks but before that Murray very ably served as interim chairman. The board has also recently received the resignation of QAC chief executive Steve Sanderson. It’s important that we allow for a level of continuity when it comes to this important asset,” Mayor van Uden said.

The recommendation was endorsed by QAC minority shareholder Auckland International Airport.

The approval of the recommendation would take the membership of the board to six for a period of one year.