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Coronavirus: Emirates to slash 30,000 jobs in further blow for industry

The job cuts are another hammer-blow for the airline industry (Getty)
The job cuts are another hammer-blow for the airline industry (Getty)

Airline giant Emirates Group is on the verge of slashing 30,000 jobs, Bloomberg has reported.

The savage cuts come as the operator of the world’s largest long-haul carrier seeks to reduce costs after the coronavirus pandemic grounded air travel.

The group could reduce the number of employees by about 30%, Bloomberg says. Emirates currently has more than 105,000 workers.

Emirates is also considering accelerating the retirement of the A380 fleet, of which it is the biggest operator.

An Emirates spokeswoman said that no public announcement had been made by the company regarding “redundancies at the airline,” but that the company is conducting a review of “costs and resourcing against business projections.”

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“Any such decision will be communicated in an appropriate fashion. Like any responsible business would do, our executive team has directed all departments to conduct a thorough review of costs and resourcing against business projections,” the spokeswoman added.

READ MORE: Hedge fund Elliott Management enters Virgin Atlantic bailout talks

Emirates, one of the world’s biggest long-haul airlines, said earlier this month that it will raise debt to help itself through the coronavirus pandemic, and may have to take tougher measures as it faces the most difficult months in its history.

The state-owned airline, which suspended regular passenger flights in March due to the virus outbreak that has shattered global travel demand, had said that a recovery in travel was at least 18 months away.

It reported a 21% rise in profit for its financial year ending March 31, but said the pandemic would hit its future performance hard.

Airlines across the globe are cutting jobs after being hit with an unprecedented near-total shutdown of travel as the health emergency swept across continents and governments closed borders and ordered populations to stay at home.

About 70% of global carrier capacity is idled and the industry stands to lose $314bn in 2020 in ticket sales, according to the International Air Transport Association.