Hundreds of baggage handling and check-in staff at Gatwick face losing their jobs in the wake of the terrorist attacks in America.

Union representatives fear up to 30 per cent of the 1,500 jobs at cargo-handling company Aviance could be axed.

The cuts are among up to 700 job losses across the company's UK bases which include Heathrow, Southampton and Birmingham airports.

Aviance told staff the cuts were a response to a downturn across the industry in the aftermath of last month's attacks.

Staff at all Aviance divisions were sent a bulletin yesterday announcing the decision.

Unions fear more than 250 permanent members of staff could lose their jobs, plus almost as many workers on fixed-term contracts.

Peter O'Boyle, chief executive of Aviance, is in crisis talks with union leaders at Gatwick.

A spokesman for transport company Go Ahead, which owns Aviance, said up to 700 jobs were at risk following cutbacks by airlines.

The spokesman said Go Ahead, which owns train and bus companies in the South East, would offer jobs to Aviance workers elsewhere in the group to try to limit redundancies.

Today Crawley MP Laura Moffatt said she was shocked to hear of more job losses at Gatwick and feared others would follow.

She said she would be seeking an urgent meeting today in Brighton with Chancellor Gordon Brown, together with other MPs representing areas with airports.

She said: "We shall be asking him to look for a strategy to support our airline industry through what is an awful time. We don't want support just for the big airlines but also for the service industries. They are having to go out of the door now."

She said a rescue plan was needed. It was impossible to tell at the moment how bad things might get in the airline industry before the crisis bottomed out.

Mrs Moffatt said: "It is important for people to fly, so book your holiday early to bring back confidence in the airline industry and get us out of this. We need people to book up package holidays. The business side of the market will pick up again because business people will continue to fly.

"If the terrorists have scared us from flying they have won."

One union representative said: "We are going to do everything we can to limit job losses.

"We are particularly concerned any downturn in the business is not allowed to compromise customer safety.

"We are going to go into a detailed discussion with the company and start formal consultation with members. People are devastated by the news."

Another GMB spokesman said the news followed a "panic reaction" at British Airways which announced 7,000 redundancies.

He said: "The airline industry is talking itself into recession."

Aviance, which supplies baggage handlers and check-in staff for various airlines, changed its name from GHI after embarking on a drive to become an international brand two months ago.

Crawley mayor Coun Chris Mullins said the job losses were a cause for concern but added: "This is the initial response to the American situation. I think it will be short term and I'm optimistic for the future."

At the Labour Party Conference in Brighton yesterday, John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB, accused some firms of "taking advantage" of the uncertainty caused by the terrorist attacks to cut more jobs than was needed.

Bill Morris, of the Transport and General Workers' Union, warned there was a "meltdown" in the industry with more than 120,000 aviation jobs cut in the past few weeks alone.