Aero Vodochody to layoff 450 employees

The Czech plane manufacturer Aero Vodochody has announced plans to layoff 450 out of 1644 employees as part of restructuring measures this year. The announcement was made by the company's head of personnel on Tuesday. Employees laid off will be given five or even six months severance pay as well as retraining to help in their jobs search. Aero Vodochody expects to post a loss of around 1 billion crowns for 2006, the equivalent of around 46 million US dollars.