(Adds department of finance declining comment)
DUBAI, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Emirates airline has received 7.3
billion dirhams ($2 billion) from the government of Dubai as it
faces a cash crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a bond
prospectus seen by Reuters shows.
Aviation has been one of the worst-hit industries during the
pandemic and Emirates has cut thousands of jobs as it tries to
manage the crisis, sources have said.
The government provided 7.3 billion dirhams to the airline
it owns after Dubai's crown prince in March promised equity to
Emirates to see it through the crisis, the prospectus shows.
No such injection has been publicly announced by the
government or the airline.
The details were disclosed in a prospectus for a potential
bond issuance by the Dubai government.
The department of finance declined to comment. Dubai's state
media office and airline did not immediately respond to Reuters
requests for comment.
Emirates in May said it planned to raise debt to manage the
impact of the pandemic. It raised 4.4 billion dirhams in the
first quarter.
This month it asked cabin crew to take voluntarily unpaid
leave, and sources have said a redundancy process that began in
July is continuing, with more staff laid off this month.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba and Davide Barbuscia, writing by
Alexander Cornwell; editing by Kim Coghill, Jason Neely and Hugh
Lawson)