British Airways plans to cut more than a quarter of its jobs in response to the coronavirus crisis, parent company IAG said, forecasting that passenger numbers will take years to recover.

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG), which also owns Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, reported a first-quarter operating loss before exceptional items of 535 million euros ($580 million), compared with a profit of 135 million a year ago.

Revenue dropped 13 per cent to 4.6 billion euros.

“The proposals remain subject to consultation but it is likely that they will affect most of British Airways' employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000 of them,” the group said. BA has 45,000 employees, including 16,500 cabin crew and 3,900 pilots, according to its website.