A KILLARNEY resident has been appointed to one of the most demanding jobs in the aviation industry.
Peter Bellew is to take up the post of chief operations officer with Malaysia Airlines and will leave his current position as director of flight operations with Ryanair.
Mr Bellew (50) who lives in Fossa, Killarney, will work side by side with the airline’s new chief executive, Christoph Mueller, who left his post as boss of Aer Lingus earlier this year.
Mr Bellew will commence his new role in September and he will head up all operations at Malaysia, including engineering, flight and ground operations, as well as having responsibility for the pilots and in-flight crew across a fleet of 140 planes.
A native of Co Meath and a graduate of Trinity College, he previously worked at Kerry Airport and spearheaded the development of facilities in Farranfore in the 1990s during which time passenger numbers increased from 6,000 to 400,000.
He was poached by Ryanair and he has been credited with the impressive record of punctuality in the airline’s services. He has worked for the Michael O’Leary led company for close on a decade, managing cost control systems, industrial relations with pilots and new technologies having been previously responsible for the airline’s sales and marketing policies.
A keen long-distance athlete and an underage coach with Fossa GAA club, Mr Bellew is married to Grainne and they have four children. He has lived in Killarney for several years and is hugely popular in local community and business circles.
