Up to 50 jobs are to be axed at Oxford Airport in the wake of the economic downturn and terrorist attacks in the United States.

The jobs are going at Signature Aircraft Engineering, Kidlington, which employs between 180 and 190 people.

Managing director Trevor Trivett said: "The events of September 11 in America definitely worsened the situation. But we were already ex- periencing a downturn in business before then.

"Overall we have seen a severe decline over the past four months."

The company, until recently known as Oxford Aviation, carries out maintenance work on turbine-powered planes from all over the country at Kidlington Airport.

Most of the planes the company maintains are air taxis or owned by corporate operators. A few belong to private fliers.

Mr Trivett said: "We shall continue to carry out light maintenance but we are cutting out the heavy maintenance work. We are also cutting out interior refurbish- ment altogether."

He added that the company had started consulting employees and he hoped some could be redeployed to company bases at Luton, Southampton, or Blackbush, in Hampshire.

In March last year, BBA Group bought Oxford Aviation Services, which runs the airport, for £55.4m. The engineering division was renamed Signature.

The group bought it from venture capitalists Close Brothers, who had paid just £20m for it in 1997.

Oxford Aviation is also Europe's largest trainer of professional pilots and runs a school at Oxford Airport.

No-one there was available for comment on whether there had also been redundancies there.

But clients include British Airways and Aer Lingus, both of which have reported they are experiencing economic turbulence.

The school also trains ex-military pilots seeking civil licences.

The company has been based at Kidlington since the 1950s and has trained thousands of commercial pilots.