LONDON - Britain is continuing talks with the aviation industry about how best to support the sector and reports that the government will not provide financial backing for airlines are misleading, the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) said on Wednesday.

A person familiar with the situation said on Tuesday that Britain had told airlines that state investment to help them survive the coronavirus crisis will only be considered once they have looked at the possibility of raising capital from existing investors. 

BALPA said that discussions about unique measures for individual airlines were ongoing and called on the government to protect jobs in the sector.

"It is unhelpful that correspondence is leaked out of the context of discussions. It gives rise to the erroneous conclusion that there is no chance of any government help for UK airlines. I've said before that there is no 'one size fits all' solution," BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said.

"The government will be looking at areas such as the airline's financial state, whether it could raise the cash in other ways, or if it's crucial to the UK transport system. These deliberations still are ongoing so we should await the outcomes."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Kate Holton) ((alistair.smout@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 7064; Reuters Messaging: alistair.smout.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))