People

Matt has over 20 years’ experience in the airport industry having first joined Infratil’s airport team in Europe after serving as the Chief Executive of Rotorua Airport. He has been at Wellington Airport since 2010 as Chief Commercial Officer, playing a key role in the strategic development of the business before taking over as Chief Executive in 2022.  He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Canterbury and has completed post-graduate studies at Melbourne Business School and the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Ayolt Wiertsema is responsible for airport operations and joined the Wellington Airport team in 2011. He has significant aviation experience with 12 years at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Ayolt also has a background in service management consultancy and marketing.

Jackie has over 15 years of HR experience, having worked in various HR roles for a diverse range of organisations, including PwC, AXA, Intergen and ACC. Jackie has a Masters in Psychology and her most recent role at ACC was as the Deputy Head of Assurance Services.

John has a long history with Wellington Airport, he was the Chief Operating Officer, (also acting as CEO) from 2002 till 2013 and returned in March 2017 as the GM Infrastructure. John trained as a civil engineer and has worked in the construction industry for over 30 years. With more than 20 years of his career involved in the planning, development and maintenance of airports John is unashamedly an aviation enthusiast.

Jenna joined the Wellington Airport team in 2019 and is primarily responsible for regulatory and legal compliance, government and community relations, communications and sustainability. Her background is in politics with a foundation in law and economics. She also has extensive government relations experience across a range of sectors including transport, technology, e-commerce and infrastructure.

Martin joined the Wellington Airport team in 2008, prior to this, he held a number of senior finance roles within various industry sectors, including transport, tourism and financial services. He is responsible for financial and management reporting, taxation, treasury, risk management, insurance and regulatory services for the business.