Struggling Thai AirAsia is furloughing three-quarters of all employees in a drastic move to stay in business.
With a resurgence of Covid-19 infection across several Thai provinces since late last year, the aviation sector has been dealt a hammer blow.
It is asking 75% of the workforce to take leave-without pay for four months from February.
Before the pandemic Thai AirAsia had nearly 6,000 workers.
It is the second round of furloughs but is more severe than the first.
The airline says only 10 of its 62 plane fleet have been operational since April 2020 when Thailand imposed its first lockdown.
"Before the resurgence, we had 40 planes serving domestic flights. But since the re-emerging of the outbreak, some provincial lockdowns have made it impossible for people to travel and passenger demand has dropped significantly at every airport," said Tassapon Bijleveld, Executive Chairman of main shareholder Asia Aviation Plc.
With little hope of financial assistance from the government any time soon, Tassapon said the airline is trying to secure loans from banks.
"The International market should recover in the last quarter of this year, but only slowly. Half of the global population must be vaccinated before international travel can resume," Tassapon added.
In the first nine months of 2020, the budget airline flew 6.6 million passengers, which is a 60% year-on-year decline.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
