El Al Israel Airlines said it is in advanced talks with an Israeli bank to receive a loan that will be partly backed by government guarantees.

The airline said it is also in talks with the Finance Ministry regarding the guarantees. It did not provide further details.

It said that securing the loan and the government's backing in the near term are vital for the company to be able to deal with the implications of the coronavirus outbreak, which has grounded the airline.

Israel's flag carrier has suspended all scheduled passenger flights until May 2 due to a drop in demand though it operates special rescue flights to various destinations and continues cargo flights.

The airline has said it is in need of a government loan of $200 million to $300 million to recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. About 5,500 of the carrier's 6,000 workers are on unpaid leave until May 31.