BERLIN, March 23 (Xinhua) -- German aircraft engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines suspended a "large proportion of operations" across several facilities in Europe because of the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced Monday.
The suspension would first affect MTU's manufacturing facilities in Munich, Germany, and Rzeszow, Poland, where components were manufactured and engines assembled.
According to MTU, the company had enforced "measures to protect its employees from infection" for its critical business segments that were required to remain operational.
According to MTU, the management team would be "continually monitoring the situation" and would introduce further measures if necessary.
Like MTU, airlines throughout the world have been hit hard by the spread of the corona crisis. Last week, Germany's largest airline Lufthansa, a big customer of MTU, announced that only five percent of its airplanes would be currently operating because of the virus.
Following the announcement of MTU, shares of the aircraft engine manufacturer listed in the DAX index decreased by around 7 percent on Monday morning. Similar to Lufthansa, shares of MTU have plummeted by more than 50 percent over the last four weeks.
