Airline, hotel and travel shares slump on summer holiday warnings and UK quarantine rumours
Shares in airline, hotel and travel companies have sunk today, ahead of Government ministers meeting to discuss stricter entry requirements for UK arrivals which have poured cold water on summer holidays being back to normal this year.
British Airways owner IAG led the FTSE 100 fallers, ending the day down 3.5 per cent.
Meanwhile Anglo-German travel giant Tui was the largest decliner on the FTSE 250.
Stricter entry requirements to the UK are being assessed by the UK Government, in the hope that new Covid-19 variants will be kept out once lockdown is lifted.
That could include a total bans on entry to the UK or a hotel quarantine scheme modelled on Australia.
Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News earlier that “everything is always kept under review” when asked if a full border shutdown is imminent.
Tui shares collapsed 16.2 per cent to 352p.
Shares in IAG closed out Friday down to 151p.
Easyjet fell 3.3 per cent to end the week at 780p.
Trainline and Intercontinental Hotels Group are also down this afternoon.
On the continent, Lufthansa and Air France fell between 2.2 per cent and 3.5 per cent after the EU proposed to label Covid hotspots as “dark red” zones.
Travellers from those areas will have to take a test before departure and undergo quarantine.
Government ministers have increasingly talked down the prospect of normality returning to the UK quickly enough to allow hassle-free summer holidays.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock this week warned Brits off booking foreign holidays and said he would take his summer break in Cornwall this year.