People of the Airport - Chris Vidal

Here at Wellington Airport we have a lot of amazing people working behind the scenes to make everything tick. To celebrate this, we've started a new regular series on social media called "People of the Airport". This month is our Sustainability Manager Chris Vidal.

“My job is basically to help the airport become more sustainable in every sense.

“I love flying and I love planes, but it has an impact on the environment. So I’m really passionate about helping change things.

“We’re doing this by working on new technologies and finding new ways of doing things to reduce our emissions, water use and waste.

“Installing new bins in the terminal this year is one way we’re helping people reduce their footprint. We’re also working with airlines to do this at a much bigger scale to make flying more sustainable.

“One of the biggest highlights in my time here has been kicking off electric flights, with the first test flight over Cook Strait landing here in 2021. This is the biggest shift in aviation technology since the jet engine, and it’s coming a lot faster than people realise.

“We’ve also made the terminal buildings a lot more efficient, reducing the amount of energy it takes for heating and cooling. It’ll be exciting to replace our gas boilers soon which will also make a big difference.”

Chris has spent his whole career in aviation after studying engineering and environmental science. As well as Wellington Airport he has previously worked for the Civil Aviation Authority and for British Airways in the UK.

Outside of work Chris likes camping, skiing and is an avid traveller.

The best things about working at Wellington Airport, according to Chris?

“First and foremost, it’s working with the best team ever! People are really supportive, always keen to innovate and open to trying new things.

“There’s great banter and a lot of fun staff social events, like learning to surf recently. Never a dull moment!”