Airline stocks fall on Covid and demand fears

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary remains bullish about the near-term future for passenger bookings.

Airline shares fell sharply on fears of fresh travel restrictions due to the continued spread of the Delta variant, plus the traditional back-to-school period threatening to dent family holiday bookings and wider demand.

Ryanair led the drop in European aviation stocks with a 2.8% fall, while Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG – already down around 25% since March – was close behind shedding nearly 2.7%. Both were down by over 3% earlier. EasyJet, Wizz, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM also saw declines.