Airport News
Birmingham Airport workers face pension ballot
Thu, 03 Feb, 2011
Hundreds of Birmingham Airport workers are set to be balloted on a deal to retain their final salary pension scheme.
Negotiations going back ten months have resulted in the airport changing its mind to close the scheme, which has a deficit of £26 million, the Birmingham Mail reports.
Negotiators at the Unite union are now recommending a compromise deal and will ballot members between February 4th and 25th.
"I am very pleased that we have been able to retain a form of the final salary pension scheme," said John Partridge, Unite regional officer.
Recent figures from the airport showed the number of people flying from Birmingham to Asia rose by 17.1 per cent last year.
Around 720,000 passengers flew to the continent from Birmingham Airport, with key destinations including Dubai, Islamabad, Tehran and Ashkhabad.
More than 8.5 million people took a flight from the hub in total last year, the airport's figures show.