EasyJet said it has secured a £600 million Government loan as its founder warned it will "run out of money by around August".

The funds are from the UK's corporate financing facility to help firms during the coronavirus pandemic.

The airline also announced it will borrow a further $500m (£406m) from commercial creditors as part of its "focus on maximising liquidity".

In a statement issued before easyJet announced it had secured additional funding, Sir Stelios said: "If this £4.5 billion liability to Airbus is preserved - and not cancelled - by the easyJet board then, I regret to report, easyJet will run out of money around August 2020, perhaps even earlier."

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He added: "If easyJet terminates the Airbus contract, then it does not need loans from the UK taxpayer and it has the best chance to survive and thrive in the future with some injection of additional equity provided for by the markets."

EasyJet also announced it has reached an agreement with trade unions on furlough arrangements for its pilots and crew.

The airline's chief executive Johan Lundgren said: "We remain absolutely focused on ensuring the long-term future of the airline, reducing our costs and preserving jobs, to make sure easyJet is in the best position to resume flying once the pandemic is over.

"We are pleased that we have now reached agreement with both Unite and Balpa regarding furlough arrangements for UK-based easyJet pilots and crew.

"Our current priority is to safeguard short term liquidity... in order to increase our liquidity in the event of a prolonged grounding of the fleet."

Unite Scotland has welcomed an agreement to furlough offshore catering workers during the pandemic.

The Catering Offshore Trade Association, which covers around 2,750 workers, involves seven offshore catering companies including Conntrak, ESS, Entier, Trinity, Aramark, Sodexo and Foss.

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COTA members deliver catering and ancillary services across installations in the UK Continental Shelf. 

Shauna Wright, Unite regional industrial officer, said: “Unite Scotland is delighted that all COTA companies in the North Sea have decided to implement the government furlough retention scheme, which we have been campaigning for across all the offshore sector.

"The agreement will relieve the fear and anxiety for hundreds of our members providing catering and ancillary services offshore as their jobs are safe and it will also reduce the financial hardship which a redundancy situation would bring at this time.”

Extra funding worth £5.5 million has been announced to help pharmacies stay open during the coronavirus epidemic, as their workloads have nearly doubled.

The Scottish Government said increased prescriptions, staff overtime and a higher level of consultations had led to additional pressures on community pharmacies in March.

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The money will go towards additional staff hours, prescriptions and modifications like protective screens.

Pharmacists are also able to treat more people for minor ailments through an extended scheme.

It is hoped pharmacies will be able to stay open on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: "I want to thank all community pharmacy teams for their incredible hard work throughout this pandemic. They are doing an invaluable job to ensure people continue to receive vital medicines and care through this period of unprecedented challenge for the NHS.

"Given the exceptional situation we are in, I have taken the unusual step of asking community pharmacies to remain open on Good Friday and Easter Monday - where it is possible to do so. This will help to alleviate some pressure from out-of-hours services.

"Working with the Community Pharmacy Scotland we have agreed this initial package of additional funding for community pharmacies to help them meet some of the costs of responding to Covid-19 and to allow them to continue to meet the increased demand on their crucial services."

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