PARIS: European airline stocks fell sharply on Friday on rising fears among investors of the impact of a news strain of bird flu that has already killed six people in China.
In late morning trading shares in Air-France KLM were down 5.75 percent to 6.87 euros on the Paris stock exchange, while Lufthansa was off 3.69 percent to 14.37 euros in Frankfurt.
In London, shares in IAG, which owns British Airways and Iberia, fell 4.64 percent to 240.6 pence, while Easyjet shares showed a loss of 4.25 percent to 1,050.35 pence and Ryanair slid 2.35 percent to 5.898 pence.
"Concerns over bird flu could be a catalyst for these drops," said a Paris trader.
A strain of H7N9 bird flu has recently mutated and begun to infect people across China. Of 14 people confirmed infected, six have died since February. Patients suffer from severe pneumonia with a fever, cough and shortness of breath.
Previous outbreaks of better-known H5N1 bird flu, which has killed 371 people overall, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed about 800 people around the world, had also hit air travel.
"These concerns were seen on the Asian markets this morning," added the trader. The Hong Kong exchange dropped 2.73 percent. The Shanghai exchange was closed for a holiday in China.
The trader said if H7N9 triggers another drop in air travel "that would be catastrophic for the sector." (AFP)
