MINSK, May 27. /TASS/. Belavia is being forced to reduce its headcount due to the sanctions the EU imposed on the Belarusian airline after the incident with the plane of the Ryanair air carrier. The airline broke the news on its website on Thursday, adding that layoffs will not be massive.
"Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond the airline’s control, Belavia is now forced to cancel dozens of flights during the peak season. In the current circumstances, cost reduction, as well as the announcement of downtime or optimization of the number of personnel are unpleasant, albeit logical steps," the statement says.
The airline drew attention to the fact that "massive layoffs are not being considered."
"The relevant decisions can be made "only on the recommendation of the heads of departments and only taking into account the current volume of work," the airline noted.
According to the statement, the situation is complicated by the fact that the Belarusian air carrier has recently begun to recover after massive flight cancellations due to the pandemic in 2020.
"We would like to note that in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, staff reductions were not carried out. At the same time, cost reduction was achieved by reducing allowances and reducing work schedules," the company explained.
As for financial losses, "due to the rapidly developing situation, it is not yet possible to provide statistical data and an assessment of what is happening," Belavia said.
"Now all the efforts of the airline are aimed at the earliest possible consideration of all requests from passengers," the statement says.
On May 24, due to the incident with the Irish Ryanair passenger plane, the EU summit decided to ban Belarusian airlines from flying to airports of EU countries and flying over their territory, and also recommended that European carriers refuse to fly in the airspace of Belarus.