The Basel-based company, which operates in 65 countries, expects during re-opening in the second half of 2020 that in the middle case its monthly cash flow will be about 10 million Swiss francs (8.34 million pounds) if its turnover falls by 55%.

For its best-case scenario, the company expects positive average monthly cash flow of around 60 million Swiss francs, while a cash burn of negative 60 million Swiss francs for its worst-case scenario.

In June the retailer, which over the past months has been severely hit by the travel curbs imposed globally, said it would reduce its personnel expenses this year, the latest among its cost-cutting initiatives aimed at tackling the plunge in sales caused by the pandemic.

"Since mid-June we have started to see first signs towards a recovery, with travel resuming gradually and more than 1,000 of our shops globally in operation again at the end of July," said the airport retailer's Chief Executive Julian Diaz in a statement.

However, the company added that it still has limited visibility on mid-term recovery trajectory.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last week that it expected global passenger traffic not to return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024, a year later than previously projected.

Dufry reported a 62.0% drop in half-year turnover and an organic growth of negative 60.6%, citing lower passenger traffic.

(Reported by Veronica Snoj and Linda Pasquini in Gdansk; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)