Two-thirds of Lufthansa's global staff will work reduced hours after the German airline grounded much of its fleet due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lufthansa said on Wednesday.

Lufthansa has applied or will apply for state aid to keep around 87,000 staff working on shorter hours, a spokesman said. The move was first reported by Business Insider.

Lufthansa employs more than 135,000 staff worldwide.

On Monday, Lufthansa said it had reached agreements with its works council and trade unions to introduce short-time working for at least 27,000 cabin and ground staff in Frankfurt and Munich.

It had also said that members of the executive board had waived 20% of their compensation "in solidarity with all employee groups".

The equivalent of 700 of Lufthansa's fleet of 763 aircraft are currently grounded, the spokesman added.