East Midlands Airport announces new MD to replace Penny Coates

Brad Miller, the current Projects and Procurement Director for the Manchester Airports Group, has been named as the new Managing Director of East Midlands Airport, replacing Penny Coates. Brad’s appointment will be effective from 4th October 2010.

Brad Miller

In his current role, Brad has responsibility for overseeing all core property and asset construction projects including terminals, runways and airfield in his role at MAG Projects. Brad’s role saw him work for and on behalf of the airport group liaising with contractors, designers, architects, surveyors, consultants and bringing them all together to ensure that projects were completed on time and on budget.

He was instrumental in the terminal redevelopments that were launched at Manchester in 2009 and has brought his considerable experience to the £10 million upgrade of the airfield in time for the arrival of the Emirates A380 that flew into Manchester for the first time on the 1st September, commencing a daily service for the A380 to Dubai.

Brad Miller said: “I’m obviously very proud to have been chosen as the new MD and I’m looking to grow our market share at East Midlands; obviously there’s competition from the likes of Robin Hood Airport and Birmingham but I hope to bring new ideas to the fore and ensure we grow the 4.5m passenger base we flew to their destinations last year. There’s much to work on at East Midlands in the freight community and with the recent announcement of a new Radisson Hotel on site and I’m keen to get started as soon as possible.”

Brad has made impressive progress at MAG becoming the youngest member of its executive committee in just five years with the company. He began working with the airport on secondment in 2005 and joined the Group in July 2007. He joined the executive committee in March 2009. He currently has responsibility for the delivery of the Group’s capital expenditure programme and the Group Procurement Team.

In August, it was announced that Penny Coates, the former MD of the Group’s regional airports, would be promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer for the Manchester Airports Group and takes up her new role on the 15th September.

Penny Coates, Chief Operating Officer at Manchester Airports Group, welcomed the announcement saying: “We are delighted to announce Brad as the new MD and I know he will do an excellent job. There’s room to grow at East Midlands, which is the UK’s primary pure freight airport, and home to leading airfreight operators such as DHL, TNT and UPS while it also acts as a major air hub for the Royal Mail. In recent months, we’ve also seen airlines such as bmibaby and Jet2.com strengthen their offering at East Midlands.”

East Midlands Airport is part of the Manchester Airports Group (MAG), the UK’s largest British-owned airport operator. Its four airports – Manchester, East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth – currently serve a total of over 23.9 million passengers every year.