22 May 2020

Nauru Airlines grapples with impacts of Covid-19 shutdown

10:48 am on 22 May 2020

The Nauru Government has provided more funding for the state owned airline as it confronts the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Nauru Airlines Boeing 737-300 at Nadi International Airport

Nauru Airlines Boeing 737-300 at Nadi International Airport Photo: RNZI/ Sally Round

It is providing an additional $US1.68 million, with some of the money likely to go towards redundancies.

This comes as the government reveals 40 percent of the airline's 132 staff in Brisbane are likely to be made redundant, after being on stand-down since the end of March.

All of the 94 staff based in Nauru will continue on their full salaries.

Nauru Airlines had been able to provide fortnightly passenger flights from Brisbane along with a number of freight only flights, but the government accepted the reduced services would continue for some time.

It said the airline anticipated in 2021 it would still face an 80 percent drop in activity.