Jeju Air shares plummet to record low after deadly plane crash By Reuters

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By Jihoon Lee and Yoon Ah Moon

SEOUL (Reuters) – Shares in South Korea’s budget airline Jeju Air hit a record low on Monday after 179 people died in the country’s deadliest plane crash.

Shares of Jeju Air were down 8.5% as of 0312 GMT, after falling 15.7% earlier in the session to 6,920 won, the lowest since 2015. Monday’s decline wiped out the stock with a market capitalization of up to 95.7 billion won ($65.2 million).

Shares in Jeju Air’s holding company, AK Holdings, fell as much as 12% to a 16-year low.

Sunday’s crash at Muan International Airport was the first fatal flight for Jeju Air, the low-cost airline founded in 2005 and the country’s third-largest carrier by passenger numbers.

South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok on Monday ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operation system once recovery work from the Jeju Air crash is complete.

Among other budget carriers, Air Busan has increased its fare by more than 15%. Jean Eyre (KS:) and T’way Air fell after rising 5.4% and 7.3%, respectively.

South Korea’s two largest airlines, Korean Air Lines, decreased by 1.3%, and Asiana Airlines – by 0.8%.

“It will take time to assess the causes of the accident, but consumer sentiment will inevitably be hurt, as reliability is important for budget carriers, whose seats and services are not very different from each other,” said Yang Seung Yun, analyst at Eugene Investment Securities.

“In terms of overall travel demand, there may be some cancellations in the short term, but it is unlikely to weaken structurally.”

Travel agencies have shut down their promotions and promotional events, with package tour cancellations doubling and bookings halving per operator, Yonhap news agency reported.

Many of the victims of the worst plane crash in the nation’s history appeared to be returning from vacation for the holiday season, officials said.