Easyjet, Ryanair and IAG share price jumps in the wake of Monarch’s failure

Shares in some of Monarch’s airline rivals jumped this morning after the news that Britain’s fifth biggest carrier had ceased trading.

Easyjet, which was reported to be one of a number of parties in talks with Monarch to save the airline, led the way and was this morning’s biggest FTSE 100 gainer. Shares were up almost five per cent by lunchtime.

Wizz Air was up almost four per cent and was quick to offer Monarch customers so-called “Rescue Fares” to help people stranded in Tel Aviv get back to the UK.

Ryanair shares rose 2.64 per cent while Flybe was up 2.2 per cent and British Airways owner IAG was up over two per cent.

Monarch fell into administration just after 4am this morning, cancelling all flights and stranding 110,000 customers abroad.

Read more: Monarch ceases operations: Flights cancelled, passengers stranded

“Usually what’s bad for one airline – higher fuel costs, terror attacks, air traffic control strikes – are bad for the sector. Shares in the various players have a tendency to track each other with some consistency,” ETX senior market analyst Neil Wilson.

But the failure of Monarch is good news for rivals… No doubt this takes the heat off Ryanair but it has wider implications. The third airline failure this year in Europe, after Alitalia and Air Berlin, is a symptom of over-capacity and overly-aggressive pricing.

Transport minister Chris Grayling said the government and the Civil Aviation Authority had launched Britain’s “biggest ever peacetime repatriation” of Monarch customers.

Read more: On the Beach warns of “exceptional cash cost” following Monarch failure