EasyJet has announced it will be making thousands of job cuts as the airline provider plans to reduce its fleet and workforce. 

After announcing they would be restarting flights from 15 June, the airline said it will be reducing its fleet and workforce by 30 per cent. 

It said that levels of market demand seen in 2019 are not likely to be reflected again until 2023.

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The low-cost airline currently employs around 15,000 full-time employees - meaning at least 4500 jobs are at risk.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren said: "We realise that these are very difficult times and we are having to consider very difficult decisions which will impact our people, but we want to protect as many jobs as we can for the long-term.

"We remain focused on doing what is right for the company and its long-term health and success, following the swift action we have taken over the last three months to meet the challenges of the virus.

"Although we will restart flying on 15 June, we expect demand to build slowly, only returning to 2019 levels in about three years’ time.

"Against this backdrop, we are planning to reduce the size of our fleet and to optimise the network and our bases.

Glasgow Times:

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"As a result, we anticipate reducing staff numbers by up to 30% across the business and we will continue to remove cost and non-critical expenditure at every level. We will be launching an employee consultation over the coming days.

"We want to ensure that we emerge from the pandemic an even more competitive business than before, so that easyJet can thrive in the future."

The airline has issued new onboard safety measures ahead of flights resuming from next month, including the mandatory wearing of face masks.