Alliance Economy spokesperson Stewart Dickson MLA has expressed his concern after Thompson Aero Seating announced plans for up to 180 redundancies across its sites.

The engineering company will cut the jobs jobs at locations in Portadown and Banbridge. It marks the latest announcement of job losses by the company, which makes seats for commercial airlines, during the pandemic.

“This is terrible news and my thoughts are with the workers affected,” said Mr Dickson.

“It has been a difficult for many industries due to the pandemic but particularly those involved in the aerospace industry due to the lack of travel and related issues. This is clearly due to global factors and not a reflection on the highly-skilled workforce.

“I would encourage the staff to consult with their union representatives and also call on the Economy Minister to do everything she can to assist with retraining and skills audits if necessary.”