Jitters hit airline, tourism stocks
Jitters hit airline, tourism stocks
Christina Toh-Pantin, Reuters, Singapore
Travel jitters struck Asia airline and travel stocks on Tuesday after the apparent accidental crash of an American Airlines plane in New York dimmed hopes of a quick rebound for the battered sector.
On the heels of widespread declines among U.S. and European carriers on Monday, airline shares in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea fell between one and five percent. Tourism and airplane parts makers were also dragged lower.
"People generally sell airline stocks when planes crash," said Philip Tulk, a Hong Kong-based airlines analyst at Lehman Brothers.
Early reports of travel cancellations began trickling in, with travel industry sources in Hong Kong saying some customers had scratched trips for the next few weeks to the United States and Canada.
"People are so frightened of flying now and this latest incident will surely have an impact," said Paul Leung of Holiday World Tours in Hong Kong.
"If this is sabotage, I think we can all close shop."
Up to 269 people died in Monday's crash when American Airlines' flight 587, bound for Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic crashed shortly after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Investigators said there was no initial evidence to suggest the crash was caused by a criminal act.
The crash was especially grim for American Airlines' parent AMR, which had lost two aircraft just two months ago in the Sept. 11 attacks on landmarks on New York and Washington. Hijackers had crashed four planes into key buildings.
"Whether it was a terrorist accident or not, today's crash is likely to cause a further short-term decline in traffic for the industry and in particular, American Airlines," said ABN Amro analyst Ray Neidl.
Major Asian carriers said they had not experienced major disruptions from the temporary closure of airports in New York which followed the crash.
Shares in Japan's three major airlines -- Japan Airlines Co. Ltd., All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. and Japan Air System Co. Ltd. -- fell two to three percent.
JAS is the only Japanese carrier to use the Airbus A300-600, but a company official said it had no plans to make any special checks on its 19 A300-600 planes or on its 17 Airbus 300s -- an older model -- and would fly them as usual.
Other Asian airlines that have flown the Airbus A300 include Thai Airways, China Airlines, Pakistan Airlines and Indian Airlines and Korean Air Lines.
Korean Air, the nation's flagship carrier, fell almost three percent and smaller Asiana Airlines shed 3.5 percent on Tuesday morning. They later closed unchanged on the day.
Korean carriers have lost about 20 percent of their value since the September attacks on the United States.