25 job cuts at Iron Maiden frontman’s aircraft firm

CARDIFF Aviation, the aviation business chaired by Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, is to make around 25 staff redundant.

The company blamed a downturn in the number of aircraft coming to its St Athan base for maintenance and repair.

In a statement, Martyn Anderson, managing director of Cardiff Aviation, said: “Cardiff Aviation is in discussion with the workforce following the need to make approximately 25 redundancies at its maintenance, repair and overhaul facility.

“Summer is traditionally a period where aircraft repair work reduces, as airlines need as many aircraft in the skies as possible.

“The downturn in aircraft coming to St Athan for MRO work was more significant than anticipated.

“Regrettably, we must temporarily reduce staffing until the seasonal increase in work begins in the autumn.

“We would like to thank staff for their tremendous support recently and are working hard to secure new business as soon as possible.”

The news follows a torrid few months for Cardiff Aviation.

In April, the Iron Maiden singer was forced to dip into his own pockets to pay staff after the company was more than two weeks late in paying wages.

Cardiff Aviation also owed the Welsh Government rent for the hangers it was using at St Athan, but eventually reached a settlement with officials on the issue.

In an interview in March, Mr Dickinson blamed problems with the instrument landing system at St Athan for the company’s failure to attract sufficient airline business.