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EU airlines face ruin due to COVID-19

Thursday, 30 April 2020 1:01 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 30 April 2020 1:01 AM ]

Jerome Hughes

Press TV, Brussels

In normal times the main airport terminals across the European Union were thronged almost 24 hours a day due to the deadly coronavirus things are much different now.

Airlines have been brought to their knees and are pleading for government assistance. Air France KLM is to receive nine billion euro in taxpayer money from the French and Dutch governments. Germany's Lufthansa claims to be losing one million euro per hour. Following a meeting of EU transport ministers on Wednesday airlines got even more bad news.

In the European Parliament there have been calls for greater support for frontline workers in the EU. The EU's 27 commissioners have held a videoconference chaired by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. They reflected on how some EU nations are abusing emergency measures.

The commission is to take legal action against Poland over judicial independence concerns. The pandemic's economic impact on the EU is huge. Unemployment levels take a year to feel the benefit of any economic growth, according to experts. Clearly closed businesses equals growing unemployment.

Aside from job losses a report just published by the International Labor Organization forecasts that 1.6 billion workers that is almost half of the global workforce, are at risk of their livelihoods being destroyed due to having their hours reduced by employers.

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