Chinese-owned Swissport wants $125 million from Aussie taxpayers to keep operations going
Chinese-owned airline check-in company, Swissport, is considering sacking thousands of Australian workers unless it gets millions of dollars from taxpayers.
The ground operations company could cut up to 80 per cent of its workers, including airport security staff, baggage handlers and tow truck drivers.
HNA, which bought Swissport in 2016 and owns 20 per cent of Virgin, is said to be the most indebted non-financial company in Asia.
Swissport is now asking the federal government for a $125 million lifeline to prevent it from going under.
Swissport Asia-Pacific Executive Vice President Glenn Rutherford told Alan Jones they can sustain services for another month but could suffer after that.
“We’ve lost almost 90 per cent of our revenue.
“We’ll be here through this crisis, we’ll be here on the other side, there’s no question on that.
“The question is what capacity we’ll have to recover.”
Click PLAY below to hear the full interview
Image: Getty