El Al has cancelled all flights planned for Wednesday, after the pilot's union announced they would not fly due to the company's financial woes.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, El Al reported a loss of $140million (£113m) in the first quarter of 2020, and has operated with only 100 pilots during the pandemic - the rest are on unpaid leave.

The pilot's union announced on Tuesday evening that after "the administration of the company did not even respect the agreements that were signed with the union less than a month ago, the union had no choice but to arrive to the conclusion that the owners of the company are unable to save it from its situation", according to KAN news.

El Al announced that it was in advanced stages of receiving government aid, but said it needed the approval of the workers and unions in order to receive the funds.

The company's CEO Gonen Usishkin has ordered all aircraft - both passenger and cargo flights - to return to Israel.