UK: Airlines’ shares tumble on prospect of tighter travel rules

The prospect of new restrictions on international travel sent a shudder through the travel industry on Monday, piling pressure on companies already reeling from a year of disruption. Shares in European airlines tumbled as the UK government prepared to introduce tighter immigration rules following concerns that new strains of Covid-19 could spread from international travellers. Governments in Sweden, Belgium and Germany also tightened travel curbs over the weekend. BA owner IAG led the share price declines, falling 8%, while easyJet dropped 7%, cruise operator Carnival decreased 6% and Ryanair was 4% lower at the close on Monday. Travel groups devastated by national lockdowns and closed borders warned that additional measures could be the last straw for businesses and would knock consumer confidence during a key period for summer holiday bookings. “Things are looking bad and these travel restrictions will make things catastrophic for the industry,” said Andrew Crawley, CCO at American Express Global Business Travel. A limited system of hotel quarantine is to be introduced in England this week but initially only for British residents returning from countries with new, more virulent forms of coronavirus, including Portugal, South Africa and Brazil. Whitehall sources said Downing Street would “reserve the right” to go further by requiring all visitors from anywhere in the world to isolate for 10-days. Johan Lundgren, easyJet’s chief executive, said customer sentiment was “reliant on newsflow”, but bookings showed there was a pent-up demand for travel whenever there were signs of governments relaxing restrictions.<br/>