Malaysia Airports has appointed University of the West of Scotland (UWS) alumnus, Gordon Stewart, as the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Airport Operations Malaysia.

Gordon, who graduated from Paisley College (now UWS Paisley Campus) with an honours degree in Industrial Engineering with Manufacturing Systems, has 33 years of experience in multiple industries including aviation, rail and information technology.

Gordon commented: “I’m delighted to be taking over as Chief Operating Officer, Airport Operations Malaysia at Malaysia Airports!”

Prior to joining Malaysia Airports in October, Gordon was the Global Projects Director at DAA International, a global airports management, consulting and investment group headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

My education at Paisley provided the foundations for my career and I still, to this day, use the principles I learned from my Industrial Engineering degree in improving Airport Operational Efficiency.

Gordon Stewart, BEng (Hons) Industrial Engineering 1990

Following graduation from the Paisley Campus in 1990, Gordon was appointed as an International Project & Manufacturing Engineer with IBM, before taking on pivotal roles in international manufacturing startups across a number of countries. In 1995, he joined Compaq working on New Product Introduction and Continuous Improvement where he became a Six Sigma Black Belt. Subsequently, he joined Bombardier Transportation in 2001 where he led significant change initiatives in project risk management globally.

In 2006, Gordon joined First ScotRail as Interim Head of Projects, where he was tasked to turn around the company’s portfolio of 160 CAPEX projects valued around £70 million. In 2009, he led the development and communication of Edinburgh Airport’s business strategy while implementing significant initiatives for the airport. He then joined Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) in 2010 as Vice President, Strategy & Business Improvement. His last position in BAC was as Chief Support Services Officer from 2014 to 2020 where his job scope included responsibility for transformation, finance, information technology, procurement, and human resource, among others.

In 2020, he took up the role of Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director at Maldives Airports Company Limited to manage the development and operations of Velana International Airport. He left in 2021 to set up Stewart & Stewart Partners Ltd as Managing Director, and then in early 2023 he joined DAA International as Global Projects Director, before taking over on 1 October 2023 as COO of Malaysia Airports.

Dato’ Sri Iskandar Mizal Mahmood, Malaysia Airports’ Managing Director, said: “Gordon joins us at a pivotal juncture of our strategic growth journey, as we double down on bringing the operations of our core business to the next level. I am confident he will assist in steering us towards innovative and sustainable operational excellence in our pursuit to be an operator of world-class airports.”