DUBLIN, May 18 (Reuters) – Irish airline Aer Lingus is to close its cabin crew base at one of the country\u2019s largest airports and impose cutbacks and layoffs across the company as part of a COVID-19 restructuring plan, it said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Aer Lingus said it had \u201cconfirmed to staff that the airline will emerge smaller from the pandemic, and there will be a requirement for redundancies\u201d.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
It will also temporarily close its base at Cork Airport and review its ground handling operations at both locations, its statement said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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\u2019) financial health,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Management has been highly critical of the government\u2019s 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\u2019s key market, the United States.<\/p>\n
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin told parliament the decision to lay off workers was \u201cvery sad and difficult news\u201d and promised the government would announce a plan shortly on the restart of non-essential travel.<\/p>\n