A UNION representing dozens of staff at a Hampshire airport which has been put up for sale has raised concern about the impact it could have on workers.
Unite says the planned sell-off of Southampton Airport, along with Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, needs close scrutiny to ensure workers do not lose out.
Union leaders say they want to meet with potential buyers to be satisfied that their business plans will benefit airlines, workers and passengers.
Unite represents nearly 100 employees at Southampton Airport, as well as 150 members at Aberdeen and around 250 members at Glasgow.
Oliver Richardson, Unite’s national officer for civil air transport, said: “We need to be kept closely informed of the sell-off process in the weeks and months ahead.
“Our concern is that there is no detrimental impact on our members’ pay, pensions and terms and conditions due to any change of owner.
“We would therefore welcome the opportunity to meet potential purchasers and to ensure their business plans for the future development of these three airports will benefit the airlines, workers and passengers.”
The comments come after Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH) confirmed last week that it was “entering a sales process” which could see Southampton, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports sold – possibly to HAH’s biggest shareholder, Spanish transport infrastructure company Ferrovial.
It said the group was working towards completing a transaction by the end of the year.
HAH used to be known as British Airports Authority and once ran seven airports including Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh.
Now it owns just four – Heathrow, Southampton, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The news has been welcomed by the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, which said the sale could mean more routes and facilities and that could benefit Hampshire businesses.
Southampton Airport did not want to comment and directed enquiries to HAH, who also said it would not be commenting.
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