Alongside much of its sector, Rolls-Royce fell into the red last year as the number of passengers willing to take flights fell dramatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Heathrow, the UK’s largest airport, said its passenger numbers were down 72.2 per cent in 2020 compared to the year before.
However, the firm's bottom-line profits picked up to £393m for the first six months of 2021, a significant improvement over the £5.4bn losses of one year ago.
Part of the recovery relied on stringent cost-cutting measures, including shedding over 9,000 jobs, two-thirds of which will affect the UK. It confirmed that around 8,000 jobs have already been scrapped under the proposals.
The firm also plans to raise at least £2bn from selling off some parts of the business. This came just days after it announced a deal to offload Norwegian maritime engine maker Bergen to British group Langley Holdings and the proposed sale of its Spanish arm ITP Aero for €1.6bn (£1...