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More than 4,500 jobs to go at airport baggage handling firm Swissport

Company is set to cut more than half of its º£½ÇÊÓÆµ staff after a major slump in air passenger numbers

Swissport logo at London Stansted Airport(Image: PA)

More than 4,500 jobs at airports around the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ are likely to be cut after baggage handlers Swissport said it would reduce its workforce by more than half.

The company, which employs around 8,500 people in the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ and operates at most of the country's major airports, said it had to reduce the size of its workforce to survive.

Chief executive Jason Holt told staff the company was looking at 4,556 redundancies after passenger numbers fell by more than 50%.

Unions described the announcement as "devastating".

Mr Holt said in a message to staff: “We must do this to secure the lifeline of funding from lenders and investors to protect as many jobs as possible in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

“It’s true that we’ve seen tough times before – volcanic cloud, 9/11, the financial crisis – and we’ve weathered these. But this time it’s different. We have never seen anything like Covid-19 in our lifetimes.

“We are now facing a long period of uncertainty and reduced flight numbers, along with significant changes taking place to the way people travel and the way goods move around the world. There is no escaping the fact that the industry is now smaller than it was, and it will remain so for some time to come.”

Swissport employs 8,500 workers at airports, including baggage handlers and check-in staff.