Airline shares plunged on Monday, with Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific down more than 5%, and Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines fell at least 4% after the US and Israel launched weekend strikes on Iran, disrupting travel and sending oil prices surging, reports Reuters.
Global air travel remained in turmoil on Monday as war in Iran forced the closure of key Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai and Doha for a third day, stranding tens of thousands of passengers worldwide and disrupting thousands of flights.
Cathay Pacific said it had cancelled all of its flights to the Middle East, which include passenger services to Dubai and Riyadh, until further notice. Data provider VariFlight said Chinese airlines had so far cancelled 26.5% of flights to and from the Middle East from March 2 to March 8.