Cardiff Airport has announced its next chairman will be Wayne Harvey, senior managing partner for Deloitte in Wales.

Mr Harvey, who will retire from Deloitte in May will join the national airport in the non-executive chairman position on June 1, 2020. He takes over at a challenging time for the aviation industry on a global scale.

He will take over from the outgoing chairman Roger Lewis, who was at the helm during achievements over the past five years which includes passenger growth and the arrival of Qatar Airways flights.

Mr Harvey’s career has spanned 35 years, including partnership positions for 26 years in Ernst & Young and then Deloitte.

As an economics graduate and chartered accountant, Mr Harvey has a proven track-record of leadership roles in finance and taxation as well as growing new business.

He is chairman of the CBI in Wales, having played a pivotal role within the Welsh business community and is a member of the Princes Trust Wales Advisory Council.

In his new role, Mr Harvey will play a significant role at a strategic level leading the Cardiff Airport board of directors in recovery from the global Covid-19 pandemic and working towards delivering and maintaining a successful and sustainable airport for Wales.

He joins as passenger numbers at the end of the financial year (2019-20) and prior to the pandemic, reached 1.588 million, an increase of more than 50 per cent since 2013.

As a consequence of coronavirus, the Airport is currently closed to commercial passenger flights.