Wellington, Sept 4 NZPA - Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden is joining the board of Auckland International Airport Ltd.

He will be an independent director, as will stock broker James Miller, who was also appointed a non-executive director today.

Mr Miller is a director of Vector Ltd and is an executive director at Craigs Investment Partners Ltd.

In July, Sir Henry resigned as a director of stock exchange operator NZX to remove any perceptions of potential conflict of interest.

It was said at the time that neither the NZX or Sir Henry believed such a conflict existed.

The Auckland Airport appointments will be put to shareholders for confirmation by way of election at the annual meeting in October.

The board has also approved the appointment of Marko Bogoievski as alternate director for Lloyd Morrison, who is being treated for leukaemia.

Mr Morrison is making good progress with his recovery and expects to be back contributing to the board later in the year.