EasyJet cuts flights and 250 staff as airport charges rise

Published on Thursday 3 September 2009 22:03

SCOTLAND'S biggest airline is to cut flights at its second-largest base by 20 per cent and cut more than 250 staff, blaming increased airport charges.

EasyJet will reduce operations at Luton, from where it flies to four Scottish cities, in one of the largest cutbacks in its 14-year history. Some 180 flights a week may go.

The airline will also pull out of East Midlands Airport, where it has ten European routes, and cut jobs at four other airports.

The Luton routes to be reduced or cut will be announced in December following staff consultation.

EasyJet flies to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness from Luton. It also operates from Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, and from Gatwick to those airports and Inverness.

EasyJet is the biggest airline at Edinburgh and Glasgow and second only to British Airways on their London routes.

A spokeswoman for the airline said no jobs were threatened at its bases at the two Scottish airports.

A total of 120 staff would be affected by the closure of East Midlands flights, with about 100 hit at Luton, where flights are to be switched to continental Europe.

A further 40 staff are due to go at Belfast, Bristol, Newcastle and Stansted airports because of a lower-than-expected staff turnover.

EasyJet said airport costs at Luton had risen by 25 per cent over the past three years, making it "no longer competitive". Its East Midlands operations had "remained stagnant for many years", and a rise in air passenger duty in November would make the situation worse.

Kevin Hall, regional officer of Unite, which represents EasyJet's cabin crew, described the announcement as "extremely worrying". He said: "There are no excuses for compulsory redundancies if the company works constructively with Unite."