Up to 120 jobs losses at Prestwick Airport

Prestwick Airport is facing the loss of as many as 120 jobs due to the recession.

Employees were informed of the redundancies at a Thursday afternoon meeting, following a consultation with the unions.

Last month, airport management reported that Prestwick was operating at a loss and a business review was announced.

Brian Donohoe, the Central Ayrshire MP said he was “devastated” by the prospect of the job losses and blamed Ryanair’s failure to finalise it timetables as being a contributing factor.

According to the airport’s operator, the job cuts are due to a significant decline in European aviation activity.

The number of passengers handled by European airports in December fell by eight per cent as compared with the previous December. Freight traffic dropped by 21 per cent, and aircraft movements declined by eight per cent for the same month.

Mark Rodwell, Prestwick’s chief executive, commented: “Our summer schedules are still to be finalised but at this stage we believe there will be no growth from our scheduled passenger airlines for the remainder of 2009.”

He went on to say: “The business review process we have undertaken has led to a number of useful cost-saving initiatives being identified, however it is clear these will not be sufficient to offset the revenue losses we are experiencing with the decline in aviation activity.”

Thanks to news.bbc.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.gpia.co.uk