"Dunedin Airport is one of the important infrastructure in the region. It can be a key economic driver."
From childhood, and while completing his schooling at Bayfield High School, Mr De Bono was interested in aeroplanes and always wanted to fly them.
"Whenever I saw an aeroplane flying I always wanted to do that ... I had a feeling that I could fly with my family, I could see the world," he said.
During his high school days, he realised becoming a commercial pilot meant a respectable career.
After high school, his urge to become a pilot meant Mr De Bono moved to Palmerston North.
At the age of 18, he enrolled at Massey University for a bachelor degree in aviation management.
"I moved to Palmerston North, where I could do the training and get my dream of becoming a pilot and a commercial licence."
It was then he realised that aviation was not just flying an aeroplane but had many more associated areas.
"It was during those three years of studies I really understood what the aviation sector was," he said.
"My eyes opened to everything that was happening in this sector. There were many more things associated with the sector than just flying an aircraft."
Though he obtained a commercial pilot’s licence, he never piloted a commercial flight.
After graduation, Mr De Bono moved to Queenstown and worked for the airport corporation.
He started his career as an operations person, working behind the scenes to provide customers safe, pleasurable and fun travel.
"Nobody realises the team work that goes behind it," Mr De Bono said.
His first job was educational; as part of a small team he worked on a $30 million development project of the Queenstown terminal, he said.
He was also responsible for ensuring the efficient, cost-effective operation of the airport.
After spending more than six years in the role, he moved to Wellington and was responsible for airfield operation and fire service at Wellington Airport.
In 2015, he returned home as the infrastructure and service delivery general manager at Dunedin International Airport, where he was responsible for compliance, infrastructure, project management and operational and service delivery functions.
In 2018, Mr De Bono moved to Wanaka, to work once more for Queenstown Airport.
Now experienced in airfield operation he shifted his career to consulting and, in 2019, he moved back to Dunedin and offered advice on airfield operations, airspace, safety management, development planning, infrastructure, master planning, strategic matters and project management.
After the advent of the Covid pandemic, the aviation sector came to a stand still and was one of the worst impacted sectors.
"In March 2020, the Covid-19 lockdown happened and it was not a good time to be an aviation consultant," he said.
Mr De Bono shifted to the health sector to become the Southern Blood and Cancer Service service manager, based in Dunedin.
"It was a completely different industry (but) a lot of my skills in airport operations helped me."
However, he could not keep away from his first love and in October 2021, he returned to Dunedin International Airport as operations and infrastructure general manager, supervising safety, operational risk, security and emergency response functions.
In October 2022, he became the acting chief executive, and then became the full-time chief executive officer in January this year.
"Aviation was an amazing industry and I have been drawn back to it," he said.
"I am very lucky that I got a very good team and I was also part of that team," he said.
As the new chief executive officer, he said the business was slowly coming back from Covid and people had started travelling again.
However, it was still a worry and he was keeping an eye on new developments related to Covid from around the world.
In terms of staff and operational capability, Dunedin Airport business was back to where it should be, but various airlines were facing issues as they recovered from Covid-related problems, he said.
"The rising oil cost, workforce-related issues and other operational costs are still a worry for many operators.
"That is definitely causing an impact. It is really hard for the airlines."
Dunedin Airport expected to welcome 960,000 passengers by June this year; pre-Covid, during the same time frame, there had been about 1.1million passengers, he said.
Regaining direct flights to and from Australia was one of his priorities and he was working with the various operators to start a service.
"I understand that the people really miss a direct flight into our city from our neighbour," Mr De Bono said.
"We are really focused on reconnecting with our airline partners into Australia, but it will take some time."
Developing international services to a city needed a city-wide approach, and the potential of Dunedin Airport to help in the development of the South was not yet realised, Mr De Bono said.
"We can’t do this on our own. It is a collective effort of the council, businesses in the city and everyone. It is a critical element.
"People do not fly to an airport, they fly to a destination."
Runway length was no constraint for international connectivity and the airport had enough land and scope to widen the runway if needed, but it was not an immediate priority
"It was part of the 20-year vision document."
Mr De Bono remained fascinated by aeroplane pilots, and said the new generation planning to enter the sector should open their eyes and look at the various opportunities aviation offered other than flying.
"From my own experience, I can tell them that aviation is a very unique industry and once you get into it, it is very hard to get out."
