Hawke's Bay Airport Company chief executive Nick Story, who died late on Friday, was a high-flyer in some of the most rapid growth of air services to the region since a sealed runway was built to usher-in jet-prop aircraft more than 50 years ago.
Mr Story, who was 51, was appointed in 2013 to what the company chairman at the time, John Palairet, described as "a new position created to meet the board's objective towards greater stakeholder, community and customer engagement and seeking continuing growth across all revenue streams."
The administration had been headed for the previous 20 years by Nigel Sutton as general manager.
The new CEO was at the head of negotiations which saw the introduction of Sounds Air's Hawke's Bay-Marlborough services in August 2015, Jetstar's services to Auckland from December 1 that year, and the current expansion project heralded by the relocation of the main highway entrance to a new gateway from the south, and a 50 per cent increase in the size of the terminal.
With Air New Zealand, Jetstar and Sounds Air now providing about 110 services in and out of the airport between them each week, passenger numbers have increased by 47 per cent over the four years to about 625,000 a year, and company profit for the last year was an expansion kick-start of a record $1.7 million.