Swissport, an airport ground services and air cargo-handling group, is planning to axe 95 jobs at Belfast City Airport because of the collapse of airline Flybe, union leaders have warned.
George Brash, regional officer with the trade union Unite, said Swissport has officially informed the union that it had entered into a 30-day consultation period with employees about redundancies.
Mr Brash said: “As many as 95 workers – more than half their workforce at the airport – face compulsory redundancy by April 11th. This is devastating news for the workers, and comes only days after Swissport bosses placed staff at city airport on a 14-day unpaid layoff.”
Since Flybe went into administration last week a number of airlines have stepped in to take over the routes that it operated to and from Belfast City Airport.
Loganair has confirmed that it will operate both the Belfast to Aberdeen and Inverness to Belfast routes, while Eastern Airways said that it will operate a six-times weekly service from Belfast City Airport to Teesside International Airport.
It also announced on Wednesday that it would take over the Belfast City to Southampton, service previously served by Flybe.
Unite has urged the Northern Ireland Executive and UK airport authorities to protect jobs at Belfast City Airport by insisting that airlines should not be permitted to “cherry pick” routes and instead be encouraged to establish a base at the airport.
According to Brian Ambrose, the chief executive of Belfast City Airport, Flybe had operated a “strong and profitable base of 14 routes” from Belfast. “The airline was a significant economic driver for the region, carrying 1.6 million passengers to and from Belfast in 2019.”
Mr Brash said the union’s view was that the “only way to guarantee regional connectivity and secure jobs” was for another airline to establish a base at Belfast City Airport.
“If an airline cannot be found to do that, we need a political intervention – both from Stormont and Westminster,” he said.
