AAA Board

Kym Meys

As the lead executive driving Master Planning, capacity planning and project delivery of both aviation and commercial developments, Kym is passionate about bringing together people, places and experiences while transforming the way airports approach planning, place making, stakeholder and community engagement and project delivery.

Kym holds a Masters of Aviation (Management) and a Bachelor of Technology (Air Transportation Management) from Swinburne University of Technology and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Civil Aviation) from the University of South Australia where Kym also trained as a commercial pilot.

Kym has over 15 years’ airport experience across Australian airports having held a wide range of senior airport planning, strategy and project delivery roles ranging from a remote mining airport to major Australian gateways.

Major Airport Director

Gert-Jan de Graaff

Gert-Jan de Graaff was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer of Brisbane Airport Corporation Pty Ltd in June 2018.

Gert-Jan has more than 20 years’ experience in leadership roles at major airports around the world. He started his career in airport management in 1995 with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in The Netherlands where he had a number of roles. These included management positions in the commercial, finance and strategic departments.

In 2005 Gert-Jan de Graaff was appointed as Managing Director of ASDC AB, the Company that manages and develops the commercial activities in the terminals of Stockholm-Arlanda Airport in Sweden.

Between 2007 and 2012 Gert-Jan held senior executive roles with Brisbane Airport Corporation Pty Ltd, including General Manager Commercial Services and General Manager Strategic Planning & Development.

Prior to his return to Brisbane Airport in 2018 Mr de Graaff lead the bid for Galeão / Rio de Janeiro Airport in Brazil on behalf of Royal Schiphol Group and his most recent position was President & CEO of JFKIAT LLC, the private operators of Terminal 4 at John F Kennedy International Airport since 2014.

Previous Board appointments include the position of Chairman of Airport Coordination Netherlands, and Board Memberships with Airports Council International North America (WBP), Air Cargo Netherlands, Cargonaut BV, and several tourism attraction agencies.

Small and Regional Airport Director

Mick Bell

I work for the Narromine Shire Council and have been the Aerodrome Manager for the past 11 years, I have a current ARO certificate and handle all of the regulatory functions of the Aerodrome

I have been involved with the following works at our Aerodrome, Upgrades to the lighting system on main runway, reseals of runways, installation of animal proof fencing, coordinated technical inspections of runway pavements, upgrades to the Water main and installation of additional fire hydrants.

I have been in NSW for the past Twenty years employed by the Narromine Shire council in many roles and have the knowledge and ability to manage many of councils Engineering functions.

I would like to bring to the board my knowledge of governance and cross-sectional knowledge of Local government and state governmental thinking, my background is from a variety of skillsets including Mining, NT Government, Private Industry and now Local Government.

Director

Tom Ganley

Tom Ganley is the Executive General Manager Corporate Affairs at Adelaide and Parafield Airports. Prior to this he was Deputy Chief Executive Officer, CFO and Company Secretary for Airport Development Group (Darwin, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek Airports).  He has nearly 35 years’ experience in aviation, having previously held various senior finance and commercial management roles across many of Australia’s airports.

He has been a professional director for 16 years and has extensive experience in the aviation, tourism, education, health and not for profit sectors.  He is currently a non-executive Director of Jandakot Airport Holdings and the immediate past Chair of the Australian Airports Association.  He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy and an Applied Corporate Governance Graduate Diploma.

Tom holds the International Airport Professional (IAP 2014 Valedictorian) post-nominal designation and fellow memberships with the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australian Institute of Management, CPA Australia and the Governance Institute of Australia.

Director

Lorie Argus

Lorie Argus was appointed CEO of Melbourne Airport on July 1, 2022 after seven years as Chief of Aviation and Chief of Landside Access, Utilities and Facilities.

With more than 30 years’ experience in aviation, she brings a “passenger first” focus to her role.

Lorie started her career in Canada before relocating to Australia and joining Virgin Australia. In her ten years at the airline, she was appointed Manager of International Airport Operations and General Manager of Ground Operations.

In 2017 Lorie graduated with an Executive MBA from Bond University including a Dean’s award and high distinction. Lorie is an active member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and became a Graduate of AICD  (GAICD) in 2019.

Director

Julie Stewart

Julie Stewart has over 25 years aviation experience across operations, emergency & crisis management, airport planning, business development and asset management. She is currently the Airport Manager at Ballina Byron Gateway Airport having relocated in early 2020 from Tamworth where she held the position of Manager Airport and Aviation Development at Tamworth Regional Airport for 7 years. There she was involved in aerodrome management activities, airline business development, leasing, commercial developments, terminal and airfield upgrade projects, asset management and airport planning. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, was recently appointed to the board of Destination North Coast and has completed her MBA.

She moved from Sydney Airport after 15 years where her role honed not only her operational knowledge but her planning and contingency as well as emergency management skills. During her time in Sydney she was part of the SA2000 project, Sydney Airport Privatisation, Sydney Olympics & Para Olympics facilitation, and 9/11 responding activities. She was part of the project management team for the common-user integration of the T2 terminal following the Ansett collapse.

Julie studied her B.Sc. (Jap. Lang.) at Griffith University and also has over 10 years hotel management and hospitality experience after working in the Whitsundays in the 80’s and 90’s.

Director

Matt Cocker

Matt has been engaged in the aviation industry for the past 15 years, and is the Chief Operating Officer of Hobart Airport.  Prior to joining Hobart Airport 6 years ago, Matt held positions within the aviation industry across the country, including Adelaide Airport, Northern Territory Airports and Qantas.

Matt is currently the chair of the AAA Tasmanian Division, and is a member of the Board of the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania. Matt has completed tertiary education in business/personnel management and is a graduate of the International Airport Professional (IAP) ACI-ICAS AMPAP program.

Prior to moving into the aviation industry Matt was an Officer in the Australian Defence Force, and has a law enforcement background.

Director

Greg Botham

Greg is the Chief Commercial Officer at Sydney Airport and is responsible for the airport’s Commercial and Aviation businesses including Retail, Property and Ground Transport, and Aviation Business Development. Greg was previously the airport’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from May 2017 to July 2022. Greg has worked in infrastructure businesses for the past 20 years, including earlier finance roles at Sydney Airport and 5 years as CFO of the ASX-listed Spark Infrastructure.

Greg has previously served as a director of electricity transmission and distributions businesses SA Power Networks, Transgrid and Powercor.

A chartered accountant, Greg completed his Master of Applied Finance at Macquarie University and also holds a Bachelor of Business from UTS.

Large and Metro Airport Director

Brendan Cook

Brendan is an experienced aviation leader, who, as Regional General Manager for Queensland Airports Limited, is responsible for the management of QAL’s airports in Townsville, Mount Isa and Longreach. In his role, Brendan oversees all facets of airport operations for the three airports, including airside, terminal, security, commercial, projects and maintenance.

Brendan is currently overseeing the $25 million upgrade of Townsville Airport, which includes trunk infrastructure, customer-facing assets and airside pavements. He has tertiary qualifications in science and ornithology from the University of Newcastle and the University of New England.

Brendan has worked in senior aviation roles for more than 10 years including Newcastle Airport, BHP and Avisure. Brendan currently sits on economic development and Defence industry advisory committees and has demonstrated experience working with boards of directors to deliver business outcomes.