Senior Manager - Airport Affairs

Virgin Atlantic; Crawley; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading airline is seeking a Senior Manager - Airport Affairs to enhance global airport commercial relationships. This strategic role requires managing key negotiations, ensuring appropriate infrastructure access, and delivering significant commercial value. Candidates should have robust experience in high-level commercial environments, with strengths in negotiation and airport economics. The position offers an exciting opportunity to influence operational and customer experience outcomes across a vast network.

Qualifications

• Exceptional experience managing senior commercial relationships, ideally with airports or government bodies.
• Strong background in strategic negotiation with multi-million outcomes.
• Deep understanding of airport economics and commercial levers.

Responsibilities

• Build and nurture relationships with airport authorities and partners.
• Lead all commercial negotiations with airports globally.
• Deliver material commercial value through effective partnerships.
• Secure access to key airport infrastructure according to operational needs.
• Shape strategic terminal decisions and key contracts.

Skills

Managing senior commercial relationships

Strategic negotiation

Understanding of airport economics

Analytical skills

Communication with senior executives

Resilience and adaptability

Job description

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Job Description

Salary: Competitive
Hours: 37.5 per week, Mon - Fri
Location: Crawley, West Sussex - three days per week
Contract: Permanent
Closing Date: 18th December 2025

In a nutshell

Airports are one of the most significant cost and experience drivers in our entire operation. We're now looking for a Senior Manager - Airport Affairs to take the lead on our global airport commercial relationships, ensuring Virgin Atlantic secures the right deals, the right infrastructure and the right partnerships across our network.

Reporting directly to VP Airports, this is a highly strategic role that shapes how we engage with airports around the world. From negotiating multi-year airport use agreements and delivering substantial commercial value, to influencing terminal strategy, infrastructure access and customer experience outcomes, this position sits at the centre of some of the most important decisions we make as an airline.

You'll operate at senior level internally and externally, working closely with CEOs of airports, government bodies and global partners. And with recent deals including complex contract renegotiations worth over a billion dollars, this role offers an exceptional opportunity to drive meaningful financial, operational and customer impact across our global network.

Day to day

• Build and nurture senior-level relationships with airport authorities, government entities and partners across our network.
• Lead all commercial negotiations with airports globally, including pricing consultations, bilateral deals, incentive agreements and airport use contracts.
• Deliver material commercial value, targeting £m annual run-rate benefits
• Secure access to key airport infrastructure such as gates, terminals, lounges, offices and check-in zones, ensuring alignment to operational and customer experience needs.
• Shape strategic decisions around terminal locations and infrastructure at key airports including high-value, multi-stakeholder leases
• Establish a structured Supplier Relationship Management programme to strengthen performance and accountability across airports.
• Act as the central coordination point for airport commercial matters, working closely with Finance, Network Planning, Procurement, Commercial, Flight Operations, Marketing and local airport teams.
• Input into business cases for new routes, evaluate underperforming routes, and influence key commercial and operational decisions.
• Present complex commercial, financial and strategic scenarios to Chief-level and Board-level audiences in a clear and compelling way.
• Work collaboratively with Delta Air Lines and partner carriers where joint airport strategies impact cost, revenue or customer experience.

About you

You'll thrive in this role if you bring:

• Exceptional experience managing senior commercial relationships, ideally with airports, government bodies or monopolistic suppliers.
• A strong background in strategic negotiation, capable of influencing multi-million-pound outcomes in complex global environments.
• Deep understanding of airport economics, tariffs, fees, incentives and commercial levers or ability to learn quickly
• Experience working within or alongside airports or airlines, with exposure to areas such as Network Planning, Operations, or Commercial.
• The ability to manage diverse internal stakeholders and bring people together to drive coordinated decisions.
• Highly developed analytical skills, able to interpret and model complex financial scenarios and present them succinctly.
• Confidence communicating with senior executives, airport CEOs and Board-level stakeholders.
• A strategic mindset: commercially astute, influential, collaborative and able to navigate complexity with clarity.
• Resilience, adaptability and the ability to operate with pace and agility within a dynamic airline environment.
• Flexibility to travel Internationally 1 to 2 times per month, as and when the business requires.

Be yourself - Our differences make us stronger

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our colleagues. That's why we're proud to be an equal opportunity employer and actively encourage applications from all backgrounds. At Virgin Atlantic, we believe everyone can take on the world - no matter your age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs. We celebrate difference and everything that makes our colleagues unique by upholding an inclusive environment in which we can all thrive. So that everyone at Virgin Atlantic can be themselves and know they belong.

To make your journey with us accessible and individual to you, we encourage you to let us know if you'd like a little extra help with your application, or if you have any individual requirements at any stage along your recruitment journey. We are here to support you, so please reach out to our team ([e-mail]), feeling confident that we've got your individual considerations covered.

Additional information

At Virgin Atlantic, our leaders empower teams to thrive through collaboration, innovation, and excellence. Explore our Leadership Recipe and discover the 20 core ingredients that define what it means to lead with us, driving our mission to be the most loved travel company and achieve sustainable profit. Want to learn more? Click here: https://careers.virginatlantic.com/leadership