Copenhagen Airports may lay off 650 staff as crisis bites (updated)

Copenhagen Airports A/S

05/08/2020 09:05

(Adds new quote, details)
    COPENHAGEN, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Denmark's Copenhagen Airports
 KBHL.CO  is considering laying off 650 staff to cope with a
global aviation sector standstill as a result of the coronavirus
crisis.
    "We have to accept that we're not in a position to retain
the number of employees we had in pre-corona times," its chief
executive Thomas Woldbye said. 
    The lay-off plan, which is subject to changes, would apply
across all functions, the airport operator said.
    If 650 jobs are cut, CPH estimates it would lead to annual
cost savings of some 325 million Danish crowns ($52 million),
although with only a limited effect in 2020. 
    CPH, the biggest airport in the Nordic region, said talks
with union representatives would be held in the coming weeks to
decide on the expected redundancies.   
    Separately, CPH reported a 55.5% drop in revenue for the
first six months as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
    The airport, which had close to 30.3 million passengers pass
through its gates in 2019, said flow in the first half of 2020
was 65.2% lower than the same period last year, when the number
was 14.4 million. 
    In June, the firm forecast a significant drop in annual
revenue and said it expected an overall loss after tax in the
range of 450-750 million crowns for 2020.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2E209E 
    Shares in CPH were up 0.22% at 0742 GMT.     
($1 = 6.3012 Danish crowns) 

 (Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard, additional reporting by Tim
Barsoe; Editing by Jason Neely and Alexander Smith)
 ((Nikolaj.Skydsgaard@thomsonreuters.com;))