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UK travel, leisure stocks slip on reports of tougher COVID-19 curbs
Published by maria gbaf
Posted on December 9, 2021
1 min readLast updated: January 28, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by maria gbaf
Posted on December 9, 2021
1 min readLast updated: January 28, 2026
UK travel and leisure stocks fell amid reports of tougher COVID-19 rules to curb Omicron spread, affecting airlines and leisure companies.
(Reuters) – British travel and leisure stocks fell on Wednesday after media reports that the country could impose tougher COVID-19 rules as early as Thursday in an attempt to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The UK travel and leisure index declined as much as 1.5%. It later pared losses to trade 0.5% lower after BioNTech and Pfizer said a three-shot course of their vaccine was able to neutralise the Omicron variant.
Airlines Easyjet, Wizz Air and British Airways owner IAG, and public transport companies FirstGroup, Stagecoach and National Express dropped between 2.5% and 4%.
Leisure stocks such as cinema chain operator Cineworld, pubs Wetherspoon and Mitchells & Butlers, and Restaurant Group slid 2%-5%.
The tougher rules could include advice to work from home as well as COVID-19 passports for large venues, the reports said.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office had no immediate comment on the reports.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
The article discusses the decline of UK travel and leisure stocks due to potential new COVID-19 restrictions aimed at controlling the Omicron variant.
Airlines like Easyjet, Wizz Air, and IAG, as well as leisure companies like Cineworld and Wetherspoon, saw stock declines.
The new rules could include work-from-home advice and COVID-19 passports for large venues.
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