German airline Lufthansa has become the latest airline to announce that it will lay off staff.

A spokesman for the company said it would cut staff that are still on probationary six-month contracts before resorting to forced redundancies.

He declined to comment on the number of lay-offs, although industry sources have speculated that there could be up to 4,000 cuts.

Airlines are cutting jobs to compensate for losses in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York on 11 September.

The attacks exacerbated an industry slide amid the global economic slowdown.

Avoiding cuts

The spokesman also said on Tuesday that flight attendants would be put on short-time work in an effort to avoid redundancies among cabin personnel.

However, lay-offs could not ruled out altogether if the initial cost-saving measures proved insufficient, he added.

Lufthansa had already warned its staff last month in an in-house publication that it would need to make redundancies in an attempt to cut costs.

The company employs a total workforce of 85,000.

Union discussions

Since last month the airline has been in discussions with unions over possible cuts.

Recent talks with a large labour union over the weekend ended in stalemate after the two sides could not agree on cost-cutting measures.

Since 11 September, Lufthansa has dropped some routes and put 43 aircraft out of service.

Also on Tuesday, the company said that passenger numbers fell by 13.3% in October, compared with the same month a year ago.

In September the passenger numbers had fallen by 9%.

Other carriers

Other European flag carriers have already been forced to lay off staff, including British Airways which announced a total of 7,000 lay-offs in late September.

According to Italian newspapers, the country's flag carrier Alitalia has decided to cut 3,500 jobs, or 15% of its workforce.

The airline is also looking for a 3-4 trillion lira ($1.3bn-$1.8bn) aid package from the Italian government, the reports said.

Alitalia has declined to comment on the reports, but the Italian government confirmed that it has been discussing an industrial plan with the airline.

The plan, which would involve job cuts, will be put to the airline's board on Thursday.

The Italian Treasury owns a 53% stake in the airline.

Upside

Despite all the doom and gloom, the European Commission has said that it sees a "huge increase" in long-term demand for air travel.

EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said the Commission sees demand rising by 90% by 2010, compared with 1998's level.

"We see the future of the airlines as blooming," she added.

The Commission is also working on forging a common EU traffic control system and a unified trans-Atlantic flying area with the US.