Kemble Friday 7th February 2025, Cotswold Airport, formally RAF Kemble, today announced the appointment of Paul Waite to its board of directors.
Waite brings over 38 years of Air Traffic Control experience, most recently at NATS, the UK’s primary air traffic services provider, working at Cardiff, Birmingham and St Athan prior to taking up his current role for NATS as Head of Safety Performance & Improvement at Heathrow Airport. Waite’s appointment will further strengthen the board’s oversight on airport safety and operations procedures.
Suzannah Harvey, CEO Cotswold Airport who is currently attending World MRO Middle East in Dubai stated, “We are very excited to have Paul join us on the board of Cotswold Airport. From our initial conversations I knew that his unique experience, enthusiasm and expertise would be a huge asset to the airport and initiated discussions to entice him to join us. I am so glad that he was suitably excited by our operations and the opportunity that he decided to accept our invitation.
“We are a thriving hub of all things aviation, and having such experience and expertise on hand to advise us as we continue to grow is invaluable. As we work with our tenants and partners with a continued focus on sustainable aviation, we need to ensure that we develop our procedures and protocols to ensure a safe and enjoyable aerodrome for everyone who works, visits or flies here.”
Waite added, “Cotswold Airport is such an interesting proposition that I was extremely excited and honoured to be asked to join the board. There are so many different types of aviation stakeholders at the site, doing different things that present unique challenges.
I am future focussed and like to be involved in positive change, and there is so much of that at Cotswold Airport. From sustainable aviation with Zero Avia and Vertical Aerospace, Air Salvage International (ASI) leading the way in the recycling of aircraft and the installation of Solar on the aerodrome hangars as part of a drive to net zero… It’s a very exciting place to be involved with!”
Prior to joining NATS Waite had a successful career in the RAF, serving at various bases including the London Air Traffic Control Centre. As a radar and tower controller for 25+ years, Waite has also managed various ATC projects including the delivery of a new control tower, a runway extension, and RNAV SIDs.
Waite was initially introduced to the Cotswold Airport team whilst organising a visit to the Boeing 747 ‘Negus’ that now resides as a visitor attraction, conference and event space at the airport.
Waite added, “Everyone who works in aviation tends to be an enthusiast, and I’ve been trying to sort a visit to Negus for the past two years with the Ops staff who were on duty for her last flight from Heathrow to Cotswold Airport back in 2020. It was a sad day to see the queen of the skies go out of commission, but who knew that it would lead to this!”