News that 148 passengers and crew were feared died following the crash of a Germanwings flight in a remote area of Southern France sent shares in Lufthansa (Ticker: LHA) down by about 3%. Germanwings is the low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa, and shares in other budget carriers fell in sympathy.

Shares in Easyjet (Ticker: EZJ) and Ryannair (Ticker: RYA) were lower by 0.4% while those in Finnair (Ticker: FIA1S) were lower by 0.3%. Air France shares traded 1% lower on the day. Implied volatility in the option market also tracked higher in response to the fatalities, with Lufthansa IV trading higher by 16.8% to 33.5%. Air France option traders also lifted its IV reading to 36.8%, while Easyjet was relatively sanguine at 23.4%. The Airbus A320 airliner was on course from Barcelona to Dusseldorf having taken off at 10am in Spain before sending a distress signal 47-minutes later. It crashed near Prads Haute Breone on the southern edge of the Alps.

Chart shows implied volatility edged higher after news broke of crash