**Russian airline Aeroflot, which is 51% government owned, has said it plans to cut 2,000 jobs in the next six months.**The company also suggested more job cuts could follow, after the airline said profits plunged amid fewer passengers and fuel costs.
“The general director has more than once said the staff needs to be thinned, now with the crisis this has become necessary,” the airline said.
The staff cuts amount to about 13% of Aeroflot’s total workforce.
In July, the airline announced that its net profit in 2008 had plummeted by 88% to $37m (£20m), down from $313m in 2007.
The company blamed it on higher fuel costs and losses at its cargo operations, which declared bankruptcy in June.