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DUBLIN, May 18 (Reuters) - Irish airline Aer Lingus is to
close its cabin crew base at one of the country's largest
airports and impose cutbacks and layoffs across the company as
part of a COVID-19 restructuring plan, it said on Tuesday.
In a statement, Aer Lingus said it had "confirmed to staff
that the airline will emerge smaller from the pandemic, and
there will be a requirement for redundancies".
The Irish carrier, which like British Airways and Iberia is
owned by International Airlines Group, is to close its
base at Shannon Airport, one of its four main domestic hubs.
It will also temporarily close its base at Cork Airport and
review its ground handling operations at both locations, its
statement said.
It said the measures were necessary after it posted a loss
of 103 million euros ($125.8 million) in the first three months
of the year.
"The cumulative impact of the crisis over the last 15 months
means immediate actions and structural changes are required...
to generate the cash required to rebuild (Aer Lingus') financial
health," the statement said.
Management has been highly critical of the government's
COVID-19 travel policies, which have advised against most
non-essential travel for more than a year and which include a
mandatory quarantine for travellers from the airline's key
market, the United States.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin told parliament the
decision to lay off workers was "very sad and difficult news"
and promised the government would announce a plan shortly on the
restart of non-essential travel.
($1 = 0.8185 euros)
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Jan Harvey)
