Roger Kitley is a Special Advisor to Otus and an independent advisor
and consultant on and to the aviation industry with particular focus
on the airports sector. Prior to establishing his own consultancy,
Roger worked for 13 years with BAA as Managing Director of BAA
International Ltd., the BAA subsidiary responsible for developing
BAA’s interests in the investment in, and management of, overseas
airports. During this period, BAA established a significant presence
in 13 airports outside the UK.
Since then he has worked for several clients including BAA and for
the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) in the latter’s
acquisition of a substantial minority stake in YVR Airports Services
Ltd. (YVRAS), the international arm of Vancouver International
Airport. In 2001 he was appointed a Director of YVRAS, which is now
47% owned by CDC. YVRAS has equity investments and management
agreements with a number of airports outside Canada, including
Santiago, Dominican Republic and Jamaica together with five Canadian
airports including Hamilton Airport near Toronto in which YVRAS has
a 56% equity stake.
Roger led BAA’s participation in the Australian Airport
Privatisation programme, which ultimately led to the sale of
long-term leases on all of the former Federal Airport Corporation’s
19 airports. BAA formed a consortium, Australian Pacific Airports
Company (APAC) together with a number of financial investors, most
notably AMP. APAC was subsequently successful in acquiring a 99-year
lease on Melbourne Airport for A$1,307 million and Launceston
Airport for A$18 million. BAA subsequently acquired an interest in
Perth Airport and the Northern Territory Airports including Darwin
and Alice Springs as part of a secondary transaction. Roger led the
early negotiations with the various Government agencies,
relationships with the various advisors and the negotiation of the
consortium agreements. He was appointed a Director of APAC once the
transactions were completed.
Other successful projects included the acquisition of a 65% stake in
Naples International Airport. This transaction involved a direct
negotiation with the City of Naples and was the first airport
privatisation in Italy. Roger also led BAA’s participation in a
number of US airports including Pittsburgh, Newark, Boston and
Indianapolis. The Indianapolis project involved a long-term
management agreement and was a groundbreaking first privatisation of
a major US airport. In each of these projects Roger led all aspects
of the transactions.
Prior to joining BAA, Roger was Sales and Operations Director for
Fluor Daniel, a major engineering and construction company. During
this period, he was responsible for construction projects totalling
over $500 million.
Roger is a Chemical Engineering graduate from Teesside University
and is Chair of Governors of a large comprehensive school in Epsom,
Surrey. He is also a member of The Global Foundation, a Melbourne
based non-profit organisation that promotes dialogue between
government, business and academia at a global, strategic level.