The group which owns Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports, made a pre-tax loss of £81.9 million in the six months to the end of September.
The coronavirus pandemic was blamed for the downturn as revenue plummeted to £93.8 million - a drop of 82.5 per cent - after passenger numbers through all three airports fell to just 4.2 million for the half-year.
The group reported a huge 90.2 per cent slump to 1.7 million passengers using Manchester airport in the period. Stansted recorded a fall of 86.2 per cent to 2.2 million with East Midlands down 90.3 per cent to 300,000.
The airport operator described its response to the pandemic as “measured, strong and focused on long-term recovery”.
All non-essential expenditure was frozen, staff took a 10 per cent pay cut from April 2020 and the management team has been cut, resulting in 25 per cent back office roles.
In a statement, MAG said: "The management response to the challenges we have faced has been measured, strong and focused on long term recovery. We immediately put a halt on all non-essential expenditure and asked all MAG colleagues to take a 10 per cent pay cut from April 2020 for a year.
"We have reduced the size of our management team, which has resulted in a streamlined operation with approximately 25 per cent fewer leaders and back office roles.
"We have also been consulting with our unions and colleagues regarding a wide range of measures including potential reductions of up to 892 roles across the broader organisation.
"These steps were the correct and proportionate reaction to the situation."
The company also said it had spearheaded efforts to influence government policy so that the aviation industry can fly more people in the short term and recover strongly in the medium-to-long term.
