Tel Aviv, Aug 27 (IANS): Israeli flag carrier, El Al has reported a $244 million loss

in the first half of this year in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to its second quarter financial report, the company's loss in April-June reached about $105 million, compared to the $100 million profit in the second quarter of 2019, reports Xinhua news agency.

The report issued on Wednesday also showed that the company's revenues fell in the second quarter by 74 per cent to about $151 million, compared to about $584 million in the same period last year.

El Al's revenue in the first half of 2020 fell to $472 million, compared to about 1 billion in the first half of 2019, down 53 per cent.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, El Al planes were grounded in March, and over 6,000 workers were put on unpaid leaves.

Accordingly, the company ended the first quarter of 2020 with a $140 million loss.

Earlier this month, El Al announced that it has extended flight suspension until September 30 due to the continued restrictions on arriving passengers from most countries.

The company made the decision even though Israel recently began to gradually open its skies to international flights as part of easing the strict restrictions imposed for months.