Heathrow Airport chairman Sir Nigel Rudd will be stepping down from his role in September 2016 after nine years and three terms at the helm – in line with the gateway’s standard board practice.

The airport says during his tenure, Heathrow has gone through significant change with Sir Nigel guiding and advising the Heathrow Board – including on the sale of airports and a regrouping of the company to focus solely on Heathrow.

The gateway says under Sir Nigel’s leadership, Heathrow has become a “focussed, high-quality business with a stable financial position and strong operational performance”.

His time on the board was capped by last year’s successful opening of Terminal 2: The Queen’s Terminal, marking the conclusion of an £11 billion ($16.4 billion) investment programme which transformed Heathrow.

Heathrow says preparations are underway for the appointment of a new chairperson who will take forward the airport’s expansion plans. To ensure a smooth transition, Sir Nigel will remain in post until this work is completed in the second half of 2016.

Heathrow chief executive officer, John Holland-Kaye says: “It has been an honour and great pleasure to work with Sir Nigel and I will miss his sound advice, unerring support and good humour.  We are starting the process of finding a replacement for Sir Nigel and Heathrow thanks him for the tremendous work he has done for our company over the past decade.”

Sir Nigel Rudd says: “I’m really proud to have played a role in re-establishing Heathrow as a national asset for the UK. I’ve seen first-hand just how much of an economic engine Heathrow is for all parts of our great trading nation.

“That’s why it’s so important that Government lives up to its “open for business” mandate and expands Heathrow. We can keep Britain at the heart of the global economy and I will continue to actively make the case for a bigger and better Heathrow.”