91Èȱ¬

Scottish airports are facing a fresh wave of job losses after Loganair confirmed it had started formal consultations with its workforce.

The announcement came after the Unite union reported that up to 165 Loganair jobs were at risk at Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Inverness airports.

The airline described the number as a "worst case scenario".

It added that it would be using the furlough programme to "support as many jobs as possible" over the winter.

The potential job losses are in addition to 92 posts which are already going across its UK operation.

The company currently has 725 staff.

In a statement, Unite said about a quarter of the airline's Scottish airport workforce was now at risk, including 49 posts at Aberdeen, 26 at Edinburgh, 70 at Glasgow and 20 at Inverness.

Loganair said recent Covid-related lockdowns and UK-wide restrictions had led to the recovery from the pandemic "being later, and slower, than could reasonably have been expected three months ago".

Chief executive Jonathan Hinkles added: "We're engaged in discussions about what happens if there is no upturn next spring, and the number reported by Unite is the worst case scenario if that happens.

"We've put forward a number of options to avoid redundancies and have had an excellent response to those ideas in a company-wide survey from Loganair's dedicated team of staff."

Unite industrial officer Pat McIlvogue said: "The news of a further 165 jobs potentially at immediate risk in addition to the 100 jobs which Loganair has already served notice on is absolutely shattering.

"But, we believe that by working together we can mitigate the need for compulsory redundancies if we have positive engagement with Loganair.

"It's essential that we explore and utilise all of the levers available to save jobs including the extension of the job retention scheme."