Fears are growing for the jobs of thousands of workers who provided baggage handling and other services for Flybe following the airline's collapse.

Thousands of employees at ground handling firm Swissport, based at regional airports across the UK, are anxiously waiting for news.

Sources said an announcement could be made later on Thursday warning that several thousand jobs are at risk.

Workers include baggage handlers, check-in staff and engineers.

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Some engineers were told late on Wednesday that they were being laid off, sources said.

Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, said: "The collapse of Flybe is a tragedy for the company's loyal workforce.

"A domino effect now puts 1,400 jobs in the wider supply chain at immediate risk and threatens the future of vital regional airports."

The GMB said thousands of Swissport baggage handling jobs are at risk at Birmingham, East Midlands, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester airports following the collapse.

Ms Houghton said: "This is devastating news for GMB members working for Swissport and a dangerous moment for the UK economy - our regional aviation infrastructure is now at risk.

"The collapse of Flybe is already having a domino effect on good jobs across regions, where aviation is vital for sustaining connectivity and supporting local economies.

"The Government needs to urgently step in with a rescue plan for our regional airports to minimise damage and protect livelihoods. This means doing the right thing now and not prevaricating behind state aid rules nonsense that can be dealt with in due course. The UK economy and workforce must come first.

"GMB is in constant contact with Swissport and will fight to safeguard our members' jobs."

Workers at other firms including Menzies, which carry out services at regional airports, are also fearful for their jobs, sources said.

Pat McIlvogue, Unite regional industrial officer, said: "Unite has been informed that up to a third of workers at Menzies Aviation based in Glasgow Airport are at risk from redundancy following the collapse of Flybe.

"We are calling on the company to refrain from confirming any redundancies to allow for discussions to take place between the Scottish Government, trade unions and the industry.

"We have written to the Transport Minister, Michael Matheson, requesting an urgent meeting to coordinate a response to these worrying developments facing the aviation industry in order to safeguard hundreds of Scottish jobs."

The GMB warned that up to eight regional airports face closure in the wake of the Flybe collapse, directly employing at least 1,000 workers in total.

The airports, including Anglesey, Southampton, Belfast, Exeter, Newquay, Wick and Jersey, are deemed at risk because more than 50% of their scheduled departures in 2019 were Flybe aircraft, said the union.

A spokesman for Menzies Aviation said: "We are currently assessing the potential impact on our business and our colleagues that work at airports in Glasgow, Manchester, Exeter and the Isle of Man.

"We are communicating with our employees and will continue to do so as the situation evolves."

Cineworld said coronavirus has not yet dampened demand as it sought to calm fears after the release of the new James Bond film was delayed due to the outbreak.

Shares in the cinema chain fell another 7% despite assurances that it has not seen any significant impact on bookings yet and continues to see good admission figures across all its markets.

It comes amid worries that cinema firms would suffer plummeting demand as coronavirus continues to spread, highlighted by the decision earlier this week to postpone the release of the No Time To Die Bond movie from April to November as cinemas across Asia have closed.

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Some film industry analysts have reportedly estimated the outbreak could wipe $5 billion (£3.9 billion) off the global box office.

Cineworld said studios have insisted they remain committed to their film schedules for the rest of the year.

It warned, however, that there can be "no certainty as to the future impact of Covid-19".

"Should conditions relating to Covid-19 continue or worsen, we have measures at our disposal to reduce the impact on our business including, but not limited to, capex (capital expenditure) postponement and cost reduction," it added.

It also revealed a dip in earnings in figures released ahead of its full-year results due next week, reporting a 4% drop in underlying earnings to $1.03 billion (£794 million).

This came as it said 2019 revenues fell 7% to $4.4 billion (£3.4 billion).

House prices increased by 0.3% month on month in February as the market held steady moving into early spring, according to an index.

The report from Halifax was released as some economists warned that the impact of coronavirus could weigh on consumer confidence in the coming months.

Across the UK, the average house price in February was £240,677, Halifax said.

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Property values were 2.8% higher than a year earlier, compared with year-on-year growth of 4.1% recorded in January.

Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said: "The UK housing market has remained steady heading into early spring, with house prices increasing by 0.3% in February and up 2.8% on the previous year.

"Much like we saw in January, the increases seen in February reflect the continued improvement of key market indicators.

"The sustained level of buyer and seller activity is strong compared to recent years, with positive employment conditions and a competitive mortgage market continuing to support demand.

"Looking ahead, there are a number of risks, including the potential impact of coronavirus, which continue to exert pressure on the economy and we wait to see how these will affect housing market sentiment later in the year."

Howard Archer, chief economic adviser, EY Item Club said: "While it should be borne in mind that Halifax has tended to be at the top end of house prices measures, most of them have recently shown a firming in prices.

"We had been expecting house prices to rise 3% over 2020 following the marked pick-up in activity at the start of the year, but it looks highly likely that the coronavirus outbreak will have some dampening effect as it weighs down on the economy and likely hurts consumer confidence.

"Consequently, we are cutting our forecast to 2.5% and it may well need to come down further still."