Airlines: Energy Cost Ground Airlines Optimism (Neutral)

The prolonged US-Iran conflict has turned into a drawn-out war of attrition, far exceeding the Trump administration’s original expectation of four to six weeks’ timeline. While demand for air travel outside the Middle East continues to grow, this prolonged conflict has dampened and reshaped global air travel demand, eroded consumer confidence, and forced airlines to pass soaring fuel and operational costs on to passengers through higher airfares.

While airlines expected to remain profitable, margins are under severe pressure from the fuel shock and the limited scope for further efficiency gains. Consequently, we downgrade our call on the Airlines sector to Neutral from Overweight.

Source: PIB.