London Blasts Hit Airline Stocks, But Flight Schedules Unaffected

The string of explosions in central London this morning caused airline stocks on both sides of the Atlantic to fall amid fresh terrorism fears. Transportation systems throughout the city were shut down in the aftermath, initially including bus and rail links to area airports, though such services as Heathrow Express have been at least partially restored. Meanwhile, flight operations at London airports at press time were not affected, according to airport operator BAA.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, London's two largest international air service providers, also reported no flight disruptions, though both carriers laid out reaccommodation policies for customers needing to change reservations.

The travel and tourism industries particularly have been susceptible to market fluctuations following terrorist attacks. Stocks today around the world dropped sharply immediately following the London explosions. Though many recovered from earlier lows, they still were down markedly at press time.

The FTSE 100 in London had dropped roughly 1.5 percent, partially rebounding after declining as much as 4 percent earlier in the day. British Airways at press time was down nearly 5 percent. On the German DAX 100, Lufthansa German Airlines stock had lost more than 2.5 percent at press time. Air France-KLM on the Amsterdam exchange also was down roughly 2 percent.

Stocks in other travel-related companies also lost ground in European and U.S. markets. U.S. airline stocks, for example, generally are down in midday trading.

Ironically, the price of crude oil also is lower in morning trading. After moving upward and closing at $61.28 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange--due in part to operational disruptions at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico amid early-season tropical storms--crude oil dropped noticeably this morning and at press time was trading around $60.