Sharjah24 – AFP: IAG, owner of British Airways and other European airlines, posted on Friday a net loss of 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic grounded planes.

It was a reduction, however, on the company's net loss of 1.68 billion euros in the first three months of 2020 as Covid took off.

Revenue meanwhile collapsed 79 percent to 968 million euros in the first quarter of this year.

"We're doing everything in our power to emerge in a stronger competitive position," IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said in the earnings statement.

The company, which also owns Spanish airline Iberia and Ireland's Aer Lingus, added that it would not be providing 2021 profit guidance "given the uncertainty over the timing of the lifting of government travel restrictions and the continued impact and duration of Covid-19".

Its earnings update came a day after rival Air France-KLM posted a net loss totalling 1.5 billion euros for the first quarter.

IAG had plunged into a record annual net loss of 6.9 billion euros in 2020.

Owing to the fallout, IAG has axed around 10,000 jobs at British Airways -- or one quarter of the carrier's workforce -- and has cut 500 positions at Aer Lingus.