European airline stocks tumble after Israel strikes on Iran

European airline stocks tumbled in early trading on Friday after Israel launched widescale strikes against Iran, which pushed the oil price up by 7% and ignited a rush out of risk assets.

Shares in Lufthansa dropped almost 5% on the Tradegate platform, while those in Air France-KLM and EasyJet fell 3-4%.

Airlines cleared out of the airspace over Israel, Iran and Iraq and Jordan on Friday after Israel launched attacks on targets in Iran, Flightradar24 data showed, with carriers scrambling to divert and cancel flights to keep passengers and crew safe.