Swissport to hire 17,000 on anticipated upturn in air travel

Swissport, which provides ground services at 285 airports in 45 countries, said Tuesday it plans to hire 17,000 staff on an anticipated pick-up in air travel as pandemic restrictions ease. The increase in the number of staff providing passenger services such as check-in and gate assistance, as well as baggage-handling and aircraft services, will help its 850 client airlines scale up their operations and bring Swissport back to essentially its pre-pandemic number of employees. "With the anticipated easing of pandemic restrictions in many countries, Swissport expects travel demand to rebound in the coming months, at the latest by the start of the summer holidays," the company said. Swissport is considerably more optimistic than some industry bodies. The UN's civil aviation body, ICAO, said it expects air travel industry to remain considerably affected by the pandemic, with a drop in passengers of between 26 and 31% as international travel remains impacted by border restrictions.<br/>