COVID vaccine news sends airlines soaring

Airlines have received a substantial lift from news that COVID-19 vaccine trials by Pfizer and partner BioNTech have exceeded expectations and proved more than 90 percent effective. A prediction by the companies that two jabs of mRNA vaccine could provide protection from COVID for at least a year sent stock markets surging. US airline stocks were among the first to react with Seeking Alpha reporting American Airlines was up 14.75 percent, United up 10.44 percent, Delta up 11.71 percent and Southwest up 9.05 percent. Shares in Australian carrier Qantas were up 10.47 percent at 11:30am Sydney time Tuesday. READ: Singapore Airlines traffic sinks 98.9 percent on COVID-19 Pfizer and its partner are hoping to secure US Food and Drug Administration emergency use approval to vaccinate frontline medical staff before Christmas with predictions the vaccine could be available to the general populace by the northern spring. Countries outside the US are also well placed to start distributing the vaccine with Britain ordering 40 million doses and Australia ordering 10 million. The study involved 43,538 participants with more than 40 percent representing diverse ethnic backgrounds. Pfizer/BioNtech said no serious safety concerns had been observed, although safety and efficacy data was still being collected. “Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. “We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. "With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis." A vaccine would be a catalyst for reinvigorating an aviation industry smashed by the pandemic and still suffering huge losses. Despite this, United Airlines says it expects the week of November 23 to be its busiest since March and announced it was adding 1400 domestic flights to cater to anticipated demand. The company also plans to fly 52 percent of its domestic schedule in December compared to 2019 levels, a 3 percentage point increase on November. This includes additional flights on peak travel days from its Chicago, Denver, Houston and Washington Dulles gateways.