Tunis, (Business News Report)|| Tunisair plans to lay off nearly 1,000 employees over the next two years due to the financial difficulties it is going through.
The CEO of Tunisair, Khaled Shelly, said that the company’s plan starts from this year as part of plans to ease financial difficulties in the state-owned airline.
Since the 2011 revolution, Tunisair has continued to record losses year after year, which increases demands for the need to restructure it.
“The company will return to its normal place and overcome difficulties by strengthening its fleet and an ambitious reform program,” CEO Khaled Chelli said during the reception of a new A320neo aircraft.
The local radio Mosaïque reported last January that Tunisair recorded a net loss of more than 336 million dinars in 2020, compared to 18.9 million dinars in 2019.
The radio, quoting a report of public enterprises published by the Ministry of Finance, indicated that this loss came as a result of the decline in revenues.
The report indicated that the debts of the airline were estimated at 2142 million dinars in 2020.
The radio channel said that “the costs related to the staff greatly affected the competitiveness of Tunisair, increasing by 11.6% in 2020”.
In a related context, Chelli denied what is being circulated about the departure of several Tunisian pilots from the company and their joining companies abroad.
Chelly explained that for 20 years, a certain number of pilots have left Tunisair as part of a secondment and not a permanent departure.
He stressed that in light of the program developed by Tunisair to reduce the number of pilots, it was agreed upon with the social parties, and the number of pilots who will leave as part of an appendix was determined.
He said that no pilot has left Tunisair and that they are loyal to Tunisair.
On Thursday, a new A320neo aircraft, acquired by Tunisair, arrived at Tunis-Carthage Airport to enhance its fleet and develop its services.
The new plane bears the name Sbeitla and features one of the best utilized cabins from airlines in the Mediterranean for 12 passengers in business class and 138 passengers in economy class.
