The Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price was a strong performer on Tuesday.
The airport operator's shares were up as much as 24% to $7.49 in morning trade before giving back some of these gains.
The Sydney Airport share price ultimately ended the day a sizeable 9.5% higher at $6.62.
Why did the Sydney Airport share price take off?
Investors were flooding into the travel sector on Tuesday after US biotech company Pfizer provided an update on its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
That update revealed that its vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Given that Pfizer believed even 60% to 70% effectiveness would be a good result, these early study results have smashed expectations.
For context, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the overall estimated effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccines is currently 45%.
Given the success of its phase 3 trials, there is optimism that travel markets could rebound quicker than anticipated. Especially with Pfizer expecting to produce up to 50 million vaccine doses globally in 2020 and then up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
The sooner that a working vaccine is successfully rolled out globally, the sooner that Sydney Airport's terminals will be bustling with travellers again.
How did other travel shares perform?
Unsurprisingly, Sydney Airport wasn't the only travel share charging higher today. Here's how other travel shares performed:
- The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price surged 16% higher to $19.83.
- The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price rose 9% to $15.70.
- The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price jumped 8% to $5.07.
- The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price stormed 13.5% higher to $4.86.
