Bristol Airport is planning is to cut nearly 100 jobs after suffering from the fall in demand for air travel caused by the pandemic.
The airport, which directly employs around 400 people, is planning to reduce its workforce by 23 per cent, according to a letter to staff seen by BusinessLive.
The airport told employees it would make a 鈥渧ery significant鈥 loss this financial year and its position was "unsustainable".
It said passenger numbers had plunged from more than 870,000 in May 2019 to just 874 in the same month this year.
The airport has now started a 30-day consultation with staff over the redundancies.
Dave Lees, chief executive of Bristol Airport said: 鈥淚t is with much regret that we are having to make the announcement which will impact on our people during this difficult period.
鈥淗owever we need to ensure that we are making the right decisions to protect the future outlook of the airport.
鈥淕iven this unprecedented set of circumstances in which we now find ourselves, it is imperative we take appropriate action to ensure the airport is best placed to recover and thrive in the longer term, and serve our region whilst protecting the majority of jobs and the people who will play a key role in our future.鈥
The letter to staff said the airport would be 鈥渟ignificantly鈥 smaller in 2020 and 2021, with predictions it could take at least three years for passenger numbers to recover.
Bristol Airport said it expected passenger numbers to fall to fewer than three million this year - down from 10 million normally - with levels in 2021 likely to be closer to those seen in 2015 and 2016 at between 6.5 and seven million.
A spokesperson for the airport said the aviation industry had been "devastated" by the impact of coronavirus, which caused countries to close borders and airlines to ground fleets.
They said: 鈥淏ristol Airport鈥檚 number one priority remains the health and safety of our passengers and our work colleagues, whilst continuing to play an important role in the region by remaining open for key flights as well as hosting a regional Covid-19 testing site.
鈥淭he future recovery path also continues to be challenged by many uncertainties and new pressures, so unfortunately we have commenced consultations to reduce our workforce.
Last week, Mr Lees called on the government to provide more support for the aviation industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the airport had introduced a number of cost-cutting measures to mitigate the financial impact of coronavirus, including reducing staff pay and stopping non-essential spending, but warned more support was needed at airports across the 海角视频.
鈥淭he pandemic has had a very significant impact,鈥 he said. 鈥淎viation has been impacted to the highest degree.
鈥淲e were hit hard as an industry and we will be one of last to recover. It will be years rather than months.鈥
