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Bag handler closure threatens Christmas chaos at four UK airports
Unite the union is warning of Christmas travel disruption at four UK airports due to the closure of Scandinavian baggage carrier company Aviator.
It says Aviator is closing its operations on November 30 at Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle airports because it is ‘not making money’.
Unite says the company, based in Sweden, needs to transfer about 1,700 staff to other handlers, or there could be major disruption.
It called for clarity about what Aviator is planning to do to ensure smooth continuity of check-in, refuelling, and baggage handling services.
Oliver Richardson, Unite national officer for civil air transport, said: "Unite will be seeking assurances from the company, airlines, other handlers and ultimately, the airports that there will be no compulsory redundancies
"It is a matter of serious concern for both our members and the travelling public that so close to Christmas most of the airlines have not announced where their baggage handling and check-in contracts are going.
"The airport owners and the airlines, which require these services for their planes to land and take off efficiently, need to get their skates on to sort this out, without any detriment to the staff jobs, pay and conditions, otherwise Christmas travel chaos is on the cards."
According to Unite, airlines that could be affected include British Airways, Thomas Cook, Thomson, Virgin, and Monarch.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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