BRITISH Airways (BA) is to close its cargo operation at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York this summer.

According to a BA spokesperson, the move is part of the airline’s cost-cutting campaign and the 74 cargo employees, affected by the subsequent job cuts, were notified last November.

“Everyone knows that airlines have not been doing very well since the economic downturn, and that doesn’t exclude British Airways,” the spokesperson said. “We’ve found that we can save a lot of money by outsourcing the actual handling of the freight, the taking it in from trucks and putting in on the airplane.”??

British Airways is looking for a cargo operator to take over its JFK freight operations and expects to have found one by July.

“The cabin crew industrial dispute has nothing whatsoever to do with this particular move of shifting cargo operations,” the spokesperson said.??JFK was the last cargo station still run by the airline in the US.