Gatwick airport handling firm Swissport is planning to cut thousands of jobs due to Covid-19.

The company which operates across the UK and Ireland says the effects of coronavirus means it has to reduce its workforce to survive.

It’s not known where the jobs will be lost but initial figures indicate around half of all those employed by the firm could face redundancy, equating to around 4,556 jobs.

Staff were informed about the cuts yesterday morning in a memo seen by Sky News. In it Swissport’s Chief Executive, Jason Holt, says they have been “hard it” by the virus with revenues “almost completely lost”.
He explains, “the unfortunate fact is that there simply aren’t enough aircraft flying for our business to continue running as it did before the Covid-19 outbreak and there won’t be again for some time to come,” adding, “we must adapt to this new reality.”

Mr Holt also points out industry forecasts suggest traffic may not recover to 2019 levels until as late as 2024.

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