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.