Travel disruption hits easyJet shares

The price of shares in FTSE 100 budget airline easyJet (LON:EZJ) tumbled 20.01% to 629.40p (as of 14:30 GMT) as it cancelled a significant number of flights due to government travel restrictions and customer cancellations. Management said that these would continue on a rolling basis and may lead to a significant portion of the fleet being grounded for the foreseeable future.

CEO Johan Lundgren commented: “At easyJet we are doing everything in our power to rise to the challenges of the Coronavirus so that we can continue to provide the benefits that aviation brings to people, the economy and business. We continue to operate rescue and repatriation flights to get people home where we can, so they can be with family and friends in these difficult times.

“European aviation faces a precarious future and it is clear that coordinated government backing will be required to ensure the industry survives and is able to continue to operate when the crisis is over“.