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Highlights
- International flights in the UK fell sharply by 71 per cent to 406,060 flights this year up to 22 December, due to covid-19 induced travel restrictions.
- The international travel sector has not seen any significant recovery due to changing travel rules in 2021.
- Ryanair operated the highest number of UK international flights during the period.
International flights in the UK fell sharply by 71 per cent to 406,060 flights this year up to 22 December, due to covid-19 induced travel restrictions, according to the latest analysis from travel and aviation data analytics firm, Cirium.
Comparatively, the total number of international flights that had served airports in the UK stood at 1.399 million, for the period in 2019, before the pandemic.
The airline which operated the highest number of UK international flights was Ryanair, which recently delisted from the LSE, operating about 101,420 flights. EasyJet (LON:EZJ) was the second-highest with 82,850 operated flights.
And British Airways, whose parent company is IAG (LON:IAG), operated about 77,460 flights, rounding out the third-ranking.
The international travel sector has not seen any significant recovery due to changing travel rules in 2021.
At present, some of these rules include pre-departure tests for those who are fully vaccinated, post-arrival tests, self-isolation until receiving one’s post-arrival negative test, self-isolation for ten days applicable to non-fully vaccinated travellers etc.
In view of this, let us explore the investment prospects of the 2 above mentioned FTSE listed airline stocks and see how they reacted to the development:
- EasyJet PLC (LON: EZJ)
EasyJet is a UK-based low-cost airline, which is listed on the FTSE 250 index.
The airline’s headline loss before tax in 2021 stood at £1,136 million, from a loss of £835 million in the year before.
It’s 2021 headline costs fell by 33 per cent to £2,594 million compared to £3,844 million in the year earlier.
Image source: EODHD/Others
EasyJet’s shares closed lower by 2.27 per cent, at GBX 550.20 on Wednesday, 29 December 2021. And it has a market capitalisation of £4,267.60 million as of date.
Related Read: Travel restrictions: Which Airline stocks may get impacted most?
- International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (LON:IAG)
International Consolidated Airlines Group is a multinational airline holding firm and is a part of the FTSE 100 index. Other than British Airways, it owns various other airlines such as Iberia.
The group recently stated it had terminated its agreement wherein Iberia intended to acquire Air Europa. The deal had been with the Spanish travel and tourism group, Globalia.
IAG added that it aims to work on some alternative structures with Globalia before January 2022.
Image source: EODHD/Others
IAG’s shares closed lower by 2.17 per cent, at GBX 143.46 on Wednesday, 29 December 2021. And it has a market capitalisation of £7,275.09 million as of date.
