A quarter of jobs at Belfast International Airport set to be cut

BELFAST International Airport has announced plans to cut a quarter of its workforce.

The airport’s managing director Graham Keddie has said it will be “years” before air travel returns to normal from the impact of Covid-19.

He confirmed that around 45 employees are set to lose their jobs from its workforce of 195.

It comes just days after easyJet announced it will cut 30 per cent of its workforce - around 4,500 jobs - as it reduces the size of its fleet. The airline employs around 250 people in Northern Ireland. 

Mr Keddie said all airport staff had been informed of a consultation process, which will seek voluntary redundancies across all departments.

The airport, which was acquired by French infrastructure giant Vinci in April 2018, has been staying open at a cost of £60,000 per day.

The managing director said: “Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on both airlines and airports and the recent announcement by the UK Government about imposing quarantine on arrivals will only exacerbate this further.”

Belfast International’s anchor tenant easyJet has announced it will resume operations from June 15. But the carrier, which flies to 35 destinations from Aldergrove, will only initially operate seven routes.

Ryanair and Jet2 have also confirmed a gradual resumption of some routes.

Belfast International is the north’s busiest airport. A total of 6.3 million passengers pass through it each year.

But the airport’s boss said it will be “years” before activity returns to normal.

“We do not foresee air travel returning to pre-Covid-19 levels for a few years and therefore we have no alternative but to take this difficult decision to reduce our staff numbers,” said Mr Keddie.

“Throughout this period we have kept the airport open in order to keep Northern Ireland connected. This has been for emergency medical flights and supplies as well as to accommodate Royal Mail deliveries, military flights and other essential cargo.

“Keeping the airport fully operational is costing £60,000 a day and we cannot continue to operate at this level.

 “As we move to reopen for passenger flights in the coming days we regret that we have to make this announcement. We know it will take time for air travel to recover and this is a measure of last resort.”