4 questions lodged at 2026 Auckland Airport (AIA) hybrid AGM
October 22, 2026
Below is the text of the 4 written questions submitted at the Auckland Airport (AIA) 10am NZ time hybrid in Auckland and via the MUFG platform on October 22, 2026. See notice of meeting detailing 3 voting resolutions. Gave them a tickle on Twitter for not offering rem voting. See 5 questions asked at 2024 AGM. Market cap $11.3b on AGM day. The proxies were not disclosed early in the formal addresses or even at the meeting as can seen in this farcical video clip via Twitter. Do better general counsel, Shannon Chand! Biggest against vote was 4.2% on Julia Hoare's final re-election.
Q1. Could new director Sean Donohue and the chair comment on the recruitment process that led to his appointment to the board. Was a head hunter involved, did the full board interview any other candidates and did Sean know any of our directors or KMP before engaging with the recruitment process? Also, where does Sean live and how much time each year does he expect to spend in Auckland?
Answer: The chair explained a good process. He did work with one of the directors at Virgin Australia, who rated him. In response to an earlier question, he said he lives in Massachusetts but plans to attend all board meetings in person. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. New Zealand is regarded by some as a governance backwater as it continues to resist mandating annual voting on remuneration reports, which is standard in many countries, such as the US. Now that our market cap is above $A11b, why not follow the lead of Xero and Fletcher Building and voluntarily offer such a vote. An AGM with no rem resolutions, such as today's, is a bit dull. What does new director Sean Donohoe think about rem report voting and will the chair get with the program and offer a rem report vote next year?
Answer: chair Julia Hoare batted this away rather contemptuously, so I will rather contemptuously continue to say that NZ remains a governance backwater when it comes to transparency, accountability and shareholder rights. Get with the program! Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q3. Thank you to Mark Binns for his 9 years of service on the board. It is always helpful for investors to have access to some exit perspectives from retiring independent directors. In his final contribution as a director, could Mark please comment on what he regards as the best 2 decisions the board made during his time as a director and does he have any regrets?
Answer: Mark took this on really well, explaining that how they handled COVID and getting cracking on the rebuild were his two highlights. He reckons he was there the day it opened in 1966 with 250,000 other Aucklanders. The population was only 1m at the time. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional regret comments by the chatty Mr Binns. He reckons they sweated the lucrative monopoly asset for too long and the terminal he saw open in 1966 had barely changed when he joined the board in 2018. They're finally doing the big multi-billion dollar rebuild now.
Q4. How many audit tenders have we run during Deloitte's uninterrupted 25 year plus run as external auditor of our business? If the answer isn't zero, when was the last tender and when are we next likely to run an audit tender?
Answer: Unlike Macquarie, which invited incumbent PwC to compete in their first audit tender in almost 40 years, Auckland Airport have told Deloitte they're out after more than 25 years. They never answer the “how many tenders” component. Suspect it is zero. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
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