"Unfortunately, due to a drastic drop in traffic and modest forecasts for the future we cannot provide work for all employees of Fraport Slovenija," the group told the STA. The trade union has been notified of the situation.

The negotiations about proposed redundancy criteria and potential mitigation measures will be held on Wednesday. After the meeting, Fraport Slovenija will be able to disclose details about the redundancies.

According to unofficial information, the operator plans to reduce its workforce by 120 - as much as a quarter of the entire staff of 475.

Fraport Slovenija has already let go temporary and student workers, Klemen Lavrič, the head of the Aerodrom Ljubljana trade union, told the STA.

He hopes that the final number of layoffs will be lower and that the government will step in to minimise the redundancies.

Fraport Slovenija has been generating only some 15% of normal revenue since mid-March when air traffic restrictions entered into force.

Despite immediate cost-cutting efforts, the operator has still had to deal with high expenditure, Zmago Skobir, Fraport Slovenija director, said last Friday when passenger air travel resumed at Ljubljana airport.

He also stressed that air transport had not received any sectoral aid to help mitigate the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis so far despite numerous calls for help.

Fraport Slovenija has pointed out that the crisis will have a long-lasting impact on the airline industry and swift recovery is not likely.

The number of flights is to be significantly reduced compared to the pre-corona times. Judging by the available data and carriers' announcements so far, the total number of Ljubljana airport passengers will not exceed 570,000 this year - a figure that would be a 67% decrease on 2019, said the group.

On top of that, going back to how things were before the epidemic does not seem to be in the cards for 2021, the operator added.