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Airlines Take a Beating on Covid Jitters

Nikos Tzabouras Written by Nikos Tzabouras

Covid Fears

On Thursday, The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a newly found COVID-19 variant that has been detected in southern Africa. It is named B.1.1.529 and has large number of mutations, which creates fears for higher transmission rate and vaccine evasion. [1]

This comes in an already tough period, especially for Europe, where the Austrian government implemented full lockdown this week and in Germany COVID-19 deaths surpassed 100K.

Response

In response, some countries have imposed travel restrictions towards African countries. Most notably, the UK government added today, six such countries to its red list, including South Africa. [2]

The European Union is also mulling similar restrictions, with EU Commission President Ms von Der Layen, twitting earlier that they are "in close coordination with Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region". [3]

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Travel Industry

The travel industry and airline companies in particular, take a hit after these developments, with stocks of many of them dropping today.

German airline company Lufthansa (LHA.de), was trading with losses in excess of 10% at the time of writing, threatening 5.00 and setting fresh 2021 lows, in an already bad year for the stock.

In London, shares of the International Airlines Group (IAG.uk), also dropped to the worst levels of the year, going as low as 110.36. IAG owns various airline companies, such as British Airways and Iberia.

Over in the Pacific, Australian airline Qantas (QAN.au), closed the day with losses of around 5% - its lowest level since August.


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Nikos Tzabouras

Senior Financial Editorial Writer

Nikos Tzabouras is a graduate of the Department of International & European Economic Studies at the Athens University of Economics and Business. With extensive experience in market analysis and a strong foundation in international relations, he brings a unique perspective to financial markets. Nikos emphasizes not only technical analysis but also on fundamentals and the growing influence of geopolitics on financial trends.

As a Senior Financial Editorial Writer, he delivers comprehensive and forward-looking insights across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, commodities, and currencies. His work explores how macroeconomic events, political developments, and global policies impact market dynamics, providing readers with a deeper understanding of both short-term movements and long-term trends.

References

1

Retrieved 26 Nov 2021 https://mobile.twitter.com/WHO/status/1464006046586974211

2

Retrieved 26 Nov 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/six-african-countries-added-to-red-list-to-protect-public-health-as-uk-designates-new-variant-under-investigation

3

Retrieved 17 Apr 2026 https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1464132568333398018

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