(Adds details, background)
LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - The owner of British Airways
and easyJet, Europe's no.3 and no.4 airlines, said they would
cut capacity drastically to try to survive the coronavirus
outbreak which has stopped people travelling around the world.
IAG, the owner of BA, said it would cut its flying
capacity by at least 75% in April and May and its outgoing boss
Willie Walsh would defer his retirement. The airline group,
however, did not call for government help.
EasyJet said it could ground the majority of its
fleet on a rolling basis, and its chief executive Johan Lundgren
called for coordinated government backing to help the aviation
industry survive.
Both airlines said they had strong balance sheets, providing
details on their cash positions and credit facilities.
IAG, which also owns Iberia and Aer Lingus, said it had
total liquidity of 9.3 billion euros, while easyJet said it had
1.6 billion pounds of cash plus an undrawn $500 million
revolving credit facility.
While IAG's Walsh has long-opposed any government help for
aviation businesses, and said as recently as two weeks ago that
government's should not prop up airlines, EasyJet's Lundgren
called for help.
"European aviation faces a precarious future and it is clear
that coordinated government backing will be required to ensure
the industry survives and is able to continue to operate when
the crisis is over," Lundgren said in a statement on Monday.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by James Davey, Kate Holton)
easyJet (EZJ)
International Airlines (IAG)