Flybe cutting 15 jobs in Belfast

FLYBE is preparing to make 15 of its 150 staff redundant at its Belfast base.

The regional airliner said on Wednesday that it is not considering a reduction in the number of routes and destinations they fly to.

However, it is keeping under review the frequency of flights from Belfast each day.

Flybe made a loss of £1.3m in the first six months of 2012, and they are now trying to fill that gap and get the company to break even in the year 2013-2014.

As well as redundancies, the company are also hoping to save money by outsourcing some jobs in ground maintenance and catering from Belfast city airport to external companies.

Flybe claim that management will be taking the biggest hit in this round of redundancies, with 20 per cent cuts being taken at boardroom level, and all executive directors forfeiting a month’s pay.

Chief executive Jim French pinned the blame for the significant losses on the government’s Air Passenger Duty tax.

He claims that 18 per cent of their UK ticket revenue is now Air Passenger Duty charges.

“If that was reduced to six per cent as we have been campaigning for, then we would be in substantial profit.

“In 30 years of business, we’ve never been in this position before,” added Mr French.