BAGGAGE handlers and check-in staff at Luton airport are set to pocket a massive pay rise worth nearly 30 per cent, the Unite union announced today.

More than 200 workers employed by Menzies will immediately receive a 20 per cent wage boost, backdated to last October, and salaries will increase by a further 8.5 per cent from next month, the union said.

The inflation-busting deal, secured during annual pay negotiations and without any need for strikes, also includes an improvement in overtime rates from time and a third to time and a half, according to Unite.