Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a company insider as saying Aeroflot had already cut 500 jobs and could cut up to 6,000—more than one-third of the company’s 15,500 employees.

“The general director has more than once said the staff needs to be thinned, now with the crisis this has become necessary,” the airline said.

In July, the airline announced that its net profit in 2008 had plummeted by 88% to $37m (£20m), down from $313m in 2007.
The company blamed it on higher fuel costs and losses at its cargo operations, which declared bankruptcy in June.
The carrier, which serves 47 countries, pushed back by two and three years the purchase of five Airbus A320 and 321 aircraft in July amid the slump in ticket sales.