Eight jobs have been lost at Norwich International Airport as part of a management shake up, it was confirmed last night.

As reported by the EDP last week, the shake up is part of chief executive Andrew Bell's plans to put the airport on a surer footing for the future.

The jobs cut were all from the airport's management structure, with one senior management role lost.

Mr Bell, who took over as chief executive at the airport earlier this year, said: 'The whole purpose of the restructuring was to restructure the management of the business.

'The focus historically has been around the operational staff, which has been trimmed back historically to a pretty low level.

'The staff have had a lot of loyalty to the airport and have had to contribute to the airport by accepting time off in lieu and other means as a way of saving money.'

He said this shake up was aimed at making the airport more sustainable instead of having to keep going back to staff and asking for their help.

'The aim is to move towards being sustainable operationally, reshaping us to run a business in whatever evironment we are in and to grow profitably.'

He stressed the cuts would not have an impact on safety or the operation of the airport and hoped that as a result of new roles created in the shake-up and a new passenger consultation group customer service would get better.

Passenger numbers at the airport have grown this year to 455,000, but it is still far off the 800,000 seen a few years ago.

However, the airport saw a boost last month at an additional helicopter service run by CHC Helicopters.

There are hopes of new scheduled flights next year, a new summer destination and it is understood operators flying new winter routes this year were already considering rebooking for next year.