Shares of Boeing and airlines fell due to new restrictions on flights
Shares of Boeing (BA) and travel companies fell in the premarket on Friday after several European and Asian countries announced new restrictions on travel from South Africa due to the new Covid variant.
ON THURSDAY, the UK said it would temporarily suspend flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. France and Italy have announced restrictions on entry from the region. In addition, the European Commission has recommended a pause in travel between the EU and southern Africa.
The new restrictions show how quickly officials can restrict travel when new Covid-19 variants. Nevertheless, many airlines and aircraft manufacturers, such as Boeing, remained optimistic about the recovery in demand for travel. On Friday, the shares of travel and aerospace companies fell more than the market as a whole.
Boeing shares fell more than 6% in the premarket, while Delta Air Lines shares fell 7% and United Airlines fell 8%. American Airlines declined by almost 8%. Hotel giant Hilton fell 5% before the market opened. “Following the Minister of Health’s latest announcement, we are working on plans for our customers and colleagues currently in South Africa, as well as for those scheduled to fly out of the UK in the coming days,” British Airways, a partner of American Airlines, said in a statement.
The operator stated that he would contact customers affected by the changes. Delta’s transatlantic partner Virgin Atlantic has said it will have to cancel flights from Johannesburg from Friday to early Sunday due to new UK regulations. The State Department and the White House did not immediately comment on possible travel restrictions to the United States.
On November 8, the Joe Biden administration lifted a broad travel ban due to the pandemic for most non-citizens coming from more than 30 countries, including the UK, the EU, South Africa, and Brazil. Although domestic flights recovered mainly from the restrictions in the early stages of the pandemic, international flights remained the missing link in the final recovery of airlines.
On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States, and, as a rule, the Transportation Security Administration checked more than 2.3 million people on one of the busiest days of the year. The highest since February 2020, although it is still 12% lower than on the same day in 2019.
