John Menzies closes cargo operations at four UK airports

UK's Menzies Aviation, the aviation services subsidiary of John Menzies plc, announced (16-Jul-2012) a restructuring of its UK cargo business. Menzies will focus its UK cargo business on its London Heathrow operations, together with smaller operations in Aberdeen and Belfast, and exit its cargo operations at Glasgow, Birmingham, East Midlands, and Manchester airports. This restructuring, which will result in an exceptional write-off of up to GBP3 million, is expected to be completed by the end of Aug-2012 and will return the UK cargo business to profitability. The company, according to reports in London Evening Standard and Financial Times, said there would be redundancies, likely in the "single digits". In Mar-2012, the company was awarded a five-year contract with British Airways to handle around 19,500 flights a year out of Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. This contract will need to be renegotiated. Also in Mar-2012, John Menzies said its aviation business had overtaken its core newspapers and magazine distribution business in the UK in terms of profit and cash contribution. [more - original PR]