The cabinet has approved the cost efficiency package put together by KLM and aviation unions, clearing the way for the government’s €3.4bn rescue package to be put into effect.

The finance ministry said in a statement that the cabinet has agreed to help KLM because of its importance to Schiphol’s international flight network. ‘This makes an important contribution to the Dutch economy and jobs,’ the statement said.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, the pilots union VNV said it too would agree to a five-year pay cut, as finance minister Wopke Hoekstra had demanded last weekend.

KLM has already had €1bn in support – mostly to help pay wages – and can count on a further €2.4bn in loans and guarantees up to 2025, now ministers have approved the cost cutting package.

The deal includes 5,000 job losses by the end of the year – or around 15% of the total workforce pre coronavirus crisis.

The airline has also committed to reducing night flights and cutting carbon dioxide emissions per passenger to 50% of their 2005 levels by 2030.