Airbus halts production in France, Spain as COVID-19 related measures are implemented

Planemaker Airbus said on Tuesday it has decided to temporarily pause production and assembly activities at its French and Spanish sites for the next four days after implementation of new measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This will allow sufficient time to implement stringent health and safety conditions in terms of hygiene, cleaning and self-distancing while improving the efficiency of operations under the new working conditions," it said in a statement.

Airbus said it will also continue to maximise home-working wherever possible.

"These measures will be implemented locally in coordination with the social partners. Airbus is also working together with its customers and suppliers to minimise the impact of this decision on their operations," it said.

Airbus said it continuously updates its workplace safety and travel recommendations to employees, customers and visitors according to the latest developments.

It continues to closely monitor the evolution of the COVID-19 virus across the globe and is constantly assessing the situation, the impact on employees, customers, suppliers and the business.

"Airbus is following the guidance from the World Health Organisation and national health authorities," it said.

The Airbus statement came as the Sydney-based Centre for Aviation (CAPA) claimed that most airlines in the world will be bankrupt by May-end amid the current COVID-19 scare.

As the impact of the coronavirus and multiple government travel reactions sweep through our world, many airlines have probably already been driven into technical bankruptcy, or are at least substantially in breach of debt covenants, said CAPA.

Cash reserves are running down quickly as fleets are grounded and what flights there are operate much less than half full, it added.

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