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In its latest bulletin to its staff the firm, which is owned by the Canadian company Bombardier Aerospace, said there may be a small number of further job losses in April.

It also said there could be further job cuts in the summer.

But the company said that overall it anticipated fewer jobs would have to go than it had initially planned.

Air travel downturn

In the period up to January, the company laid off about 1,000 staff following the downturn in the aerospace and air travel industry which followed the 11 September US terror attacks.

But its staff bulletin has painted a less bleak picture about its staffing plans than it did last year.

Following the US attacks, the firm had warned that ultimately about 2,000 jobs would have to be cut.

But provided there is no further downturn in business, many of the further 1,000 jobs may not now be lost.

The firm said the positions which may be axed in April included management and support jobs.

It is expected those jobs cuts could be followed by a number of job losses on the shop floor in August.

The round of job cuts at Shorts has already been one of the biggest single loss of jobs in Northern Ireland in decades.

With a workforce of 6,500 before the latest posts were axed, it is Northern Ireland's largest private sector employer.