Emirates has reportedly let go of 600 pilots today in one of the largest layoffs in the airline industry.
Reuters is reporting five company sources say thousands more jobs could soon go, while MoneyControl.com reports most of those let go today were from the airline's A380 fleet.
An airline spokeswoman told Reuters: "Given the significant impact that the pandemic has had on our business, we simply cannot sustain excess resources and have to right size our workforce in line with our reduced operations."
The airline also extended 50% pay cuts for staff until September to as the vast majority of its A380 and Boeing 777 fleet remains grounded.
The salary reduction affects all employees grade 4 and above, and came into force on April 1.
It's the second wave of job losses at the state-owned carrier, coming two weeks after 180 pilots undergoing A380 training and 400 trainee cabin crew were let go.
The news comes as Emirates announced it would resume flights to 30 destinations including Heathrow, Manchester, Dublin, New York JFK, Paris, Bahrain, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Zurich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Chicago, Toronto, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Taipei, Hong Kong, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Manila.
Travellers will also be able to use a connection in Dubai to fly between destinations in Asia Pacific, Europe or the Americas.
Outgoing President Tim Clark has said it could take four years for the airline to resume flying to all of the 157 international destinations it served before the pandemic. It has a fleet of 270 A380 and 777 jets.
Emirates is far from the only airline struggling as a result of Covid-19.
British Airways has proposed 12,000 redundancies, with more than 1,000 pilot roles at risk.
Budget airline easyJet has said it plans to cut up to 30% of its staff and shrink its fleet, to fit the smaller market it expects to emerge from the collapse in air travel.
