* Ireland to ease EU's toughest travel curbs from July 19
* Aer Lingus in talks with state, parent group on liquidity
* Airline cannot give assurances on no further job losses
(Adds detail, quotes)
By Padraic Halpin
DUBLIN, June 22 (Reuters) - Aer Lingus is losing more than 1
million euros ($1.19 million) a day and does not expect the
Irish government's plan to ease travel restrictions next month
will give it a significant near term bounce, its new chief
executive said on Tuesday.
Ireland now has the strictest travel curbs in the European
Union but will adopt the EU's COVID-19 certificate to help
citizens to move more freely across the bloc from July 19.
It will broadly apply the same approach to the key markets
of Britain and the United States.
The Irish airline, which like British Airways and Iberia is
owned by International Airlines Group, said last month
it would close its cabin crew base at one of Ireland's largest
airports and impose cuts and layoffs across the company as part
of a restructuring.
"It is looking too little too late to have a significant
bounce that will get us on the right path to restoring
connectivity, supporting jobs in the near term," Lynne Embleton
told an Irish parliamentary committee, citing continued curbs
for unvaccinated travellers from Britain and the United States.
Embleton said the decision to close its base at Shannon
Airport, one of its four main domestic hubs, did not signal a
strategic retreat from Ireland's regions. But she said she could
not give assurances there would be no more job losses.
The carrier, which lost 103 million euros in the first three
months of 2021, was in talks with its parent firm and Ireland's
government about potential further liquidity, she said.
It received a 150 million euro loan from Ireland's sovereign
wealth fund last year.
"From the day we stop burning cash, that's not the end of
our problems. We need to repay the debt, repay the interest,
restore the balance sheet and have the money to be able to pay
for aircraft," said Embleton.
"We will be smaller for some time to come unfortunately and
it will take a long time to fully recover," she said.
($1 = 0.8406 euros)
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Louise Heavens and
Edmund Blair)
International Airlines (IAG)
