MORE than 25 engineering jobs are being axed at Manchester Airport.

Bosses say they hope the job cuts will be achieved through voluntary redundancy.

A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: "The company has begun a benchmarking exercise and review of its engineering activities over the past few weeks and this work should be completed by the end of March. As a result, it is possible that changes will be made to levels of outsourced contracts. In addition, changes are proposed for internal staffing at the airport.

"As part of this review, the company is proposing a new shift structure which maintains the right levels of reactive maintenance and scheduled work to meet customer and business requirements. This proposal includes a reduction of 26 jobs in the engineering team, which it is hoped will be met through voluntary measures.

"However, it is too early to state the final extent of the changes prior to the reviews being completed. We are consulting fully with employee representatives about the proposals and also seeking the views and ideas of staff through joint open forums to ensure that any changes are fully understood and staff have the opportunity to be engaged in the change process."

The jobs blow comes two months after it emerged that more than 180 baggage handlers at the airport were facing redundancy.