Airline jobs cut at Tees Valley
AIRLINE bmi has revealed it is reducing flight capacity and axing several jobs at Durham Tees Valley Airport.
The group, which operates 20 flights per week from Teesside to London Heathrow, said it would use smaller Embraer aircraft on the route to combat falling demand and soaring fuel prices.
The move is expected to lead to 60 job losses across the group, including some at Durham Tees Valley.
Airport bosses are confident the move will not hit revenues and are ploughing ahead with plans to boost annual passenger numbers from 750,000 to three million by 2015.
Robin Tudor, head of PR at Peel Airports Group - owner of Durham Tees Valley Airport - said: “This reduction in capacity is nothing new; bmi did this last year. In winter there is reduced demand for using Heathrow as a connecting route to leisure destinations across Europe.
“We’ve factored this into our calculations and don’t anticipate a significant drop in revenues around this particular service.
“We have every confidence that once summer 2009 comes around, bmi will reinstate the service as they did last year.”
The airline said it would maintain the frequency of its Teesside to Heathrow route, but anticipated a 10% cut in seat capacity across its mainline operations this winter. Its Embraer aircraft has a capacity of up to 50 seats - about 100 fewer than its Airbus carrier.
A spokesperson said: “In the mainline business, predominantly operating in and out of Heathrow, bmi will utilise two additional Embraer aircraft - up from three in the summer - operated within the group by bmi regional.
“Their utilisation will enable the airline to reduce capacity on certain routes while maintaining frequency. The additional Embraer aircraft will be deployed on Leeds Bradford, Durham Tees Valley and Jersey services to Heathrow.”
The airline would not comment on the number of potential job losses but confirmed it was in talks with unions to negotiate voluntary redundancies. The consultation period, which began yesterday, is expected to last for about 30 days.
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