Holiday company shares have come under pressure after Britain suspended flights to the Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The move came amid fears that the crashed airliner Flight 9268 may have been brought down by a bomb planted by militant group Islamic State. Prime minister David Cameron called President Sisi on Wednesday to discuss what Egyptians are doing about security arrangements at Sharm el-Sheikh airport. A team of UK experts will asses what further measures may need to be taken.
Thomas Cook closed down 7.27% or 5.5p at 112.2p while Tui lost 1.9% to £11.37. The ABTA travel association estimated there were around 9,000 customers currently on holiday at the popular Egyptian destination. Both companies said they had cancelled all flights and holidays to Sharm up until 12 November. They said customers who had booked during that time would be refunded. Analyst Wyn Ellis at Numis told Reuters:
Sharm el Sheikh being closed is undoubtedly going to cost them some money.
Thomas Cook had said in September it had seen a significant increase in the number of customers travelling to Egypt.
Meanwhile easyjet, up 1.3% to £17.56, said it had cancelled five flights to Sharm from Britain on Thursday.
