Southwest, AirTran and WestJet down, easyJet also lower, while AirAsia and Ryanair remain steady

Selected LCCs daily share price movements (% change): 10-Jun-09

Low cost carrier investors have reacted to spiraling fuel prices, which reached a new high for 2009 yesterday. All North American LCC shares were down yesterday, exceeding the general reduction in the main US indexes. The worse affected LCC was AirTran Airways, down 8.3%, with Southwest Airlines' stock falling 2.4%.

Elsewhere, easyJet's shares fell 0.7%, with Ryanair remaining stable and Air Berlin shares increasing 1.1%. Air Berlin, on 09-Jun-09, resolved to issue 4.5 million new ordinary shares to existing shareholders, including ESAS Holding, Board of Directors Chairman, Johannes Zurnieden, and a wholly-owned company of CEO, Joachim Hunold.

NB: All these carriers all feature prominently in The Centre’s forthcoming LCC Outlook 2009 report.

Among the Asia Pacific/Middle East LCCs, AirArabia shares were up, by 1.9%, while Virgin Blue shares remained steady, after falling 4.6% on Tuesday.