Hi Rich
Qualifications not required in the UK, however interview process with most Airlines is fairly intensive covering not only experience, but attitude. An old saying is that you can teach people systems, but you can't teach them attitude and in a lot of cases that is true. There are few Airlines recruiting now and coupled with the combination of First Choice and TUI (I'd rather say Britannia!), the opportunities are becoming less and less. Getting a job in a handling agent traffic environment( I avoid the use of the word 'dispatcher' to save another debate kicking off!) would give you a good grounding in an Aviation environment, which could lead further because some Airlines view that as a positive.
Chopper