Travel stocks tumble as US
Travel shares tumbled on Monday, shedding $22.6 billion as escalating conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran disrupted flights worldwide, closed key Middle Eastern hubs and sent oil prices surging, with analysts warning of weeks of disruption.
Data showed at least 4,000 flights had been cancelled around the world in the past three days.
Dubai, the world’s busiest international hub, and Doha remained shut for a third day, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded as aviation faced its biggest test since the COVID-19 pandemic. Jordan on Monday became the latest country in the region to partially close its airspace.
Oil prices jumped as much as 13% to their highest since January 2025 as Iran and Israel stepped up attacks, raising the prospect of higher fuel costs for airlines.
U.S. airline shares fell when markets opened on Monday, with American Airlines and United Airlines down more than 6%. A group of 29 leading airlines, hotel and travel companies from Europe, Asia and North America shed a combined $22.6 billion in market value on Monday, according to Reuters calculations.
Aviation analytics company Cirium said at least 1,560 flights were cancelled on Monday, meaning more than 4,000 have been cancelled since Saturday.
Shares in TUI ,, Europe’s largest travel company, were down 9.6% at 1302 GMT while Lufthansa delined by 5.7% and British Airways owner IAG ICAG.L lost 5.4%. Hotelier Accor and cruise company Carnival also fell sharply.
“Every airline is full and every flight is full because people are just having to take what they can,” said Paul Charles, head of travel consultancy PC Agency, who was himself stranded abroad. Charles said aircraft and crew were scattered around the world in the wrong places in a “nightmare scenario”.
Analysts highlighted rising fuel costs, cancellations and rerouting expenses as the main pressure points for airlines, despite hedging. JPMorgan, Goodbody and Citi pointed to Wizz Air WIZZ.L as the most exposed European carrier because of its large presence in Israel. Its shares were down 7% on Monday.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad resumed some flights on Monday while Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport said it would reopen to a limited extent.
The UAE civil aviation authority will begin operating “special flights” across the country’s airports, state news agency WAM reported, as part of efforts to allow some of the tens of thousands of the Middle East’s stranded passengers to leave the region.
Even before the conflict, the industry was under strain as cost-conscious travellers avoided pricey holidays. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NCLH.N on Monday forecast weaker than expected 2026 profit.
Many Middle Eastern carriers continued to cancel flights. Flydubai suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 3 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Tuesday.
Asian airline stocks were also hit, including Japan’s ANA Holdings 9202.T, Air China, China Eastern Airlines and Malaysia’s AirAsia X AIRX.KL, which all fell by at least 4%. Cathay Pacific cancelled all flights to the Middle East, including to Dubai and Riyadh, and waived rebooking fees.
Singapore Airlines cancelled flights to and from Dubai through March 7 while Japan Airlines suspended Tokyo-Doha services.
Singapore-based independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie said Indian carriers were particularly exposed owing to heavy Middle Eastern schedules serving migrant workers and a ban on using Pakistan’s airspace on flights to and from Europe.
Air India cancelled flights between India and Zurich, Copenhagen, Birmingham, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar and said services to New York and Newark would refuel in Rome.
PASSENGERS SCRAMBLE TO CHANGE FLIGHTS
The ripple effects have hit travellers worldwide. Dubai was the world’s busiest international airport in 2024 with 92 million passengers, according to Airports Council International, ahead of London’s Heathrow by 13 million. Doha ranked 10th.
Lufthansa cancelled passenger flights in and out of the UAE, but sought to fly an Airbus jet from Dubai to Munich without passengers.
Qatar Airways passengers in Sydney told Reuters they scrambled to rearrange travel with little information. Ascanio Giorgetti, 16, and his mother Alessandra Giorgetti from Italy found their flight to Milan via Doha cancelled. They secured an alternative route home via Los Angeles on another airline.
“We have no information at all, no answer on the phone from Qatar (Airways),” she said, adding that the tickets had cost 4,000 euros ($4,708).
Jenni and Doug Stewart, both 78, were flying from Sydney to Scotland via Doha when their flight turned back to Melbourne, before they then flew to Sydney. “We were told the airspace had closed,” Jenni said. “It was chaotic in Melbourne, hundreds of people looking for even the vaguest of information,” Doug said.
(REUTERS)
