World`s Five Largest Airlines Lost Over $40 bn in Market Cap Since January

Not many industries have experienced such a severe impact of the coronavirus pandemic like the airline industry. While the global travel restrictions and the lockdown rules are expected to cause airline passenger revenues to drop by $300bn in 2020, the world’s largest airline companies are witnessing staggering losses in their market capitalization.

According to data gathered by Buy Shares, the combined market cap of the five largest airline companies in the world plunged by $40.9bn since January, reaching a total of $36.9bn at the end of last week.

Market Cap Halved Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

In January, the combined market cap of the Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Lufthansa Group, United Airlines, and Air France, as the world’s five largest public airline companies by revenue, amounted to $77.8bn, revealed the YCharts and MacroTrends data.

After the Black Monday crash, this figure plunged to $25.3bn in the third week of March, a 67% fall since the beginning of the year. The downsizing trend continued in the next two months, with the combined market cap falling to $25bn at the end of May.

This figure increased by nearly $12bn in the last two months, reaching $36.9bn in the third week of July. Nevertheless, the value represents a 52% plunge compared to January figures.

Statistics show the market cap of Delta Air Lines, as the world’s largest airline by revenue, stumbled by 54% amid COVID-19 crisis, falling from $35.5bn in January to $16.5bn in the third week of July.

The combined value of shares of American Airlines, the second-largest airline by revenue, and the leading airline by flown passenger kilometers stood at $4.8bn last week, a 58% fall since the beginning of the year.

United Airlines have witnessed a 57% drop in market capitalization in the last seven months, with the value plunging from $19.3bn in January to $8.2bn last week. The YCharts and MarketTrends data indicate the three largest airlines in the United States lost a total of $36.7bn in combined market capitalization amid coronavirus outbreak.

Two Largest European Airlines Lost $4.1bn in Market Capitalization

The world’s third-largest airline by revenue, Lufthansa Group, has also witnessed a substantial fall in the total value of shares in the last seven months. In January, the market cap of Europe’s largest airline stood at $7.42bn. After the Black Monday Crash, the total value of the company’s shares stumbled to $4.49bn, a 40% drop in three months. Statistics show that Lufthansa market capitalization amounted to $5.51 at the end of last week, a 25% drop since the beginning of the year.

Air France, as the world’s fifth-largest airline by revenue, lost $2.2bn in market cap amid the COVID-19 crisis. In January, the total value of the company’s shares stood at $4.2 bn. By the end of the last week, this figure fell to under $2bn. Statistics show the two largest European airlines on this list lost $4.1bn in combined market capitalization since the beginning of the year.