Brussels Airport Company, which operates the airport in Zaventem, is not excluding redundancies as part of the savings plan it is currently working on.
As it remains unclear when air traffic will start picking up again, structural savings are necessary, according to a company spokesperson.
Discussions with the social partners to look into measures concerning voluntary departures or early retirement are still ongoing, according to Tim Roalandt of the ACLVB trade union, reports Belga news agency.
However, redundancies are not excluded either, if the other measures will not be sufficient, according to him.
Since March, the aviation sector has been at a virtual standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, with barely 13% of the normal number of passengers being counted at the airport in October.
"However, a lot of fixed costs, such as the fire brigade, keep do not stop," Airport spokesperson Nathalie Pierard explained.
In recent months, the airport has already saved costs by falling back on the system for temporary unemployment due to the crises for parts of its staff, or by cutting back on marketing campaigns and major projects.
Cooperations with around a hundred external consultants have also been discontinued. This year, Brussels Airport Company is expecting a net loss of €200 million.
The company employs some 900 full-time equivalents. The talks are due to be concluded this month.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
