Airlines braced for fallout from attacks

Both airlines will reveal their November numbers after both carriers in the last few days cancelled all flights between Sharm el-Sheikh and the UK until January following the suspected bombing of a Russian passenger jet.

BA said the decision was made following discussions with the UK government - while carrier Monarch, and holiday firms Thomson and Thomas Cook have also cancelled flights. Thomas Cook chief executive Peter Fankhauser said he had never experienced such "unprecedented'' disruption in his 30-year career after the recent series of deadly attacks.

The holiday firm said so far the cancellation of holidays to Tunisia after the beach and hotel terrorist attacks in June, which killed 30 Britons, impacted its underlying earnings by about £22million.

Last month IAG upgraded its annual profit guidance after growing passenger numbers and lower fuel costs led to strong third quarter results.

IAG, which also includes Iberia and Vueling airlines and recently bought Aer Lingus, said that it posted a thirdquarter operating profit of €1.21billion (£869million), beating analysts' forecasts of €1.19billion (£855million). The group said in its third quarter to the end of September passenger unit revenue lifted by 6.5 per cent and fuel costs fell by 8.6 per cent, compared to a year ago.

The price of crude oil has fallen by more than half since last summer to about $49 (£32) a barrel due to a production glut, cutting costs of heavy users such as airlines.

Earlier this month easyJet said that the Paris attacks will have a minimal impact on the budget airline.