MOSCOW: Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot on Monday posted steep losses in the second quarter after coronavirus travel restrictions caused a sharp reduction in flights. Aeroflot, a member of the SkyTeam alliance that includes Air France-KLM, is the leader in the Russian aviation sector.

The carrier said it suffered net losses of 35.8 billion rubles ($485 million) between April and June, compared with a net profit of 6.9 billion rubles in the same period last year. Turnover fell by 85.3 percent year-on-year to 25.5 billion rubles while earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 1.96 billion rubles into the red against 46.96 billion rubles over the same period last year.

The former Soviet carrier, which is nearly a century old, has undergone major reforms in recent years, emerging as one of the world's most recognisable brands. But since March, the pandemic has slashed ridership with an 88.8 percent reduction in numbers from Q2 last year from 15.4 to 1.7 million passengers.