Luggage-handling firm at heart of Dublin Airport disruption cut staff by 44% in 2020

The luggage-handling firm that apologised for its role in the number of bags that went missing at Dublin Airport in July slashed its workforce by 44 per cent during the early stages of the pandemic, new accounts show.

Swissport, one of the biggest baggage-handlers at Dublin Airport, apologised last month to travellers for what a company spokesman described as “our part in the disruption people are experiencing. We are working hard to address our resource challenges, with over 3,500 new hirings since the start of the year.”

New accounts for Swissport Ireland Ltd for 2020 show that it cut its Irish workforce from 794 to 446 during that year as the pandemic brought international air travel to an effective halt.

Recruitment challenge

Salary costs fell to €11.3 million from €28 million, according to the accounts, which also show the company received €2.62 million in Government Covid-19 wage supports. It paid out €719,000 in “redundancy and severance costs”.

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The directors state that “aviation flight numbers are now returning to normal, and the challenge is now to recruit and train enough staff to meet the forecast demand”.

Underlining the impact of Covid-19 on the business, revenues slumped 44 per cent during 2020. Ground handling revenues declined 59 per cent to €15.3 million. That decline was partially offset by cargo revenues increasing 12 per cent to €11.1 million.

The accounts – signed off this month – show that the company recorded an operating loss of €1.2 million in 2020.

Operating loss

It posted a pretax profit of €291,000 after the Government wage supports were taken into account, offset by impairment of investments of €455,000, and redundancy and restructuring costs of €719,000.

The directors state that the operating loss “was a direct result of the impact of Covid-19″.

They add that these losses were mitigated by realising savings of €4.3 million or a 30 per cent reduction in operating expenses.

“Under these circumstances, this is a very positive result, reflecting the strength, commitment and professionalism of our management and all our employees,” they added.

The operating loss last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.3 million and lease costs of €1.55 million.