Shares of South Korean low cost airline Jeju Air hit record low on Monday following the deadliest air disaster of the country involving one of its Boeing planes, reported Reuters on Monday.
As at 1:43pm South Korean local time (GMT+9), shares of budget carrier Jeju Air Co Ltd (089590.KS) was down 8.4%.
Earlier, Jeju Air’s shares even dipped as much as 15.7% to 6,920 won, the lowest level since the airline listed in 2015.
The more than 8.0% drop in share value intraday (up to midday) wiped out nearly 55.6 billion won (about RM168.6 million) in Jeju Air’s market capitalisation.
The crash on Sunday at Muan International Airport was the first fatal flight for Jeju Air. Founded in 2005, Jeju Air is the country’s third-largest carrier by passenger numbers.
Shares of AK Holdings, the holding company of Jeju Air, also fell drastically, as much as 12% and hit the lowest levels in 16 years.
Among other budget carriers, Air Busan rose 4.3% as at 2:04pm local time. Jin Air and T’way Air, on the other hand, fell 3.6% and 2.6%, respectively.
South Korea’s two major airlines, Korean Air Lines dropped 2.6% as at 2:07pm local time. On the contrary, Asiana Airlines surged 1.6%.
A local market analyst said due to the Jeju Air crash, consumer sentiment would inevitably be hurt, adding that credibility is important for budget carriers whose seats and services are not much different from each other.
[Stock price updates from online web-based real-time quotes.]
