London City Airport will on Thursday name its first permanent female chief executive as it targets approval of an expansion plan that would create nearly 1,500 jobs.

Sky News understands that the Docklands airport has told staff that Alison FitzGerald, who has been co-CEO since January alongside finance chief Wilma Allan, has landed the role.

Ms FitzGerald has worked at City Airport – the capital’s fourth-busiest – for more than a decade, becoming chief information officer and then chief operating officer.

She replaces Robert Sinclair, who left in January after six years to become boss of the High Speed 1 rail link.

The airport is owned by a consortium of Canadian pension funds and Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, which have backed a plan to increase its annual passenger traffic from about 6.5m to 9m.

It is appealing against Newham Council’s rejection of a planning application that would see it extend operating hours at the site, which is popular with City commuters.

The airport’s proposals include no increase in the annual number of flights and, in what it claims is a first for a UK airport, a commitment that only cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft will be allowed to fly in any extended periods.

The appeal is being reviewed by the Independent Planning Inspector.

Its change of leadership makes London City the second of the capital’s airports to name a new CEO in quick succession, following the arrival at Heathrow of Thomas Woldbye last year.

“London City delivers one of the best passenger experiences in the UK and I’m committed to building on this success even further,” Ms FitzGerald said.

Representatives of Thames Water’s multinational syndicate of shareholders are poised to quit as directors of its corporate entities after refusing to inject the billions of pounds of funding required to bail it out.

Sky News has learnt that a number of board members at companies connected to Kemble Water Finance, Thames’s parent, are expected to resign in the coming days.

City sources described the move as “the logical next step” after the owners of Britain’s biggest water utility said they would not commit more than £3bn to help upgrade its ageing infrastructure and shore up its debt-laden balance sheet.

A default on part of Thames Water‘s holding company debts last month has raised the prospect that the company is heading towards special administration, a form of insolvency that would effectively leave the government liable for managing a utility firm which serves nearly a quarter of Britain’s population.

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Thames Water is owned by a group of sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from countries including Abu Dhabi, Australia, Britain, Canada and China.

A number of the investors are represented on boards which sit at various points in the group’s labyrinthine capital structure.

It was unclear on Wednesday whether Michael McNicholas, a representative of the giant Canadian pension fund Omers and who sits on the board of Thames Water Utilities Limited, was among those in the process of stepping down.

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Along with the rest of the privately owned water industry, Thames Water faces a crucial moment next month when Ofwat, the industry regulator, publishes its draft determination on companies’ five-year business plans.

The draft rulings will be subject to negotiation before final versions are published in December.

Thames Water and a spokesman for Kemble declined to comment.

The owner of Royal Mail has said it is “minded” to accept a revised takeover bid by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.

The latest offer from Mr Kretinsky’s investment firm EP Group values the Royal Mail parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) at £3.5bn.

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Mr Kretinsky’s firm already owns most of IDS as a 27.6% shareholder but wishes to buy the remaining shares.

An earlier offer of £3.20 a share had been rejected last month for being too low.

But now he has offered to pay £3.60 for each share. The day before the original offer was made a share in IDS cost £2.14.

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An extra shareholder pay out of 8 pence a share has been offered by EP Group, if the deal closes, as has a 2 pence per share payment to every stakeholder, expected to be paid in September.

It would bring the total value of an IDS share to 73% more than it cost before the prospect of a buyout was raised.

‘Good value’

“Having considered the proposal, the board has indicated to EP Group that it would be minded to recommend an offer to IDS shareholders”, the IDS board said.

The price is “fair” and reflects the value of current growth plans, the IDS chairman said.

Consideration was given by the board to the national significance of Royal Mail as the operator of the postal network.

“The board is particularly mindful of Royal Mail’s unique heritage and responsibilities as the designated universal service provider in the United Kingdom and a key part of national infrastructure”, it said.

In assessing the proposal, the board has also been very mindful of the impact on Royal Mail and GLS and their respective stakeholders and employees, as well as broader public interest factors”.

EP Group has until 29 May to advance or withdraw its takeover bid.

Who is Daniel Kretinsky?

There has already been scrutiny of Mr Kretinsky’s part ownership in the postal company but a government national security concerns review into his investment led to no intervention.

He also owns parts of West Ham Football Club and Sainsbury’s.

EP Group, which he controls, has financial interests in energy, logistics, and food retail.