London: Shares in airlines and travel companies rallied on Friday, appearing to confirm analysts' expectations that the economic impact of the discovery of a terrorist plot aimed at trans-Atlantic flights would be short-lived.
However, experts reiterated warnings that airlines would likely be hit with higher security costs as airports tighten passenger checks in the long term.
Shares in British Airways PLC, one of the hardest hit when hundreds of flights were canceled as authorities increased security at airports around the country on Thursday, were up 0.9 percent at 373.5 pence ($7.09) on the London Stock Exchange.
BA canceled around 400 flights from Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, and Gatwick on Thursday- around half its services to and from those airports after the government revealed it had thwarted a large-scale attack.
Investigators, describing a plot on the scale of the Sept 11 attacks in the United States, said the attackers planned to use common electronic devices to detonate liquid explosives to bring down as many as 10 planes.
"It is a significant issue which may impact short-term traffic volumes. But longer term I expect passenger traffic to return to normal levels," said Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon.
BA said it expected the majority of its flights to operate today, but warned of delays because of the new security regulations that severely restrict onboard baggage.
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