Coronavirus: Aircraft seat manufacturer sheds 330 jobs

Image caption, Thompson Aero Seating designs and manufactures business class seats for commercial airlines

A Portadown engineering firm is shedding 330 jobs because of the impact of coronavirus on the aviation industry.

Thompson Aero Seating makes business-class seats for commercial airlines.

In a statement, it said it was releasing the majority of its "remaining agency, temporary and contractor workers".

Thompson has been majority owned by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China since 2016.

The statement added: 鈥淲hilst TAS deeply regrets this decision, it is necessary to ensure operations match the demand from our customers.

"Our global airline customers have had to delay, reduce and reschedule their orders, and our business, which designs, engineers and manufactures premium class airline seating, has therefore been directly impacted."