The Regional Express Holdings Ltd (ASX: REX) share price is slipping into the red in afternoon trade today. At the time of writing, it is trading down 3% at $1.60.
Rex shares are leading the broader sector's decline today with the S&P/ASX 200 Hotels Restaurants & Leisure Index (AXHRJD) sliding 1.55% from market open today as well.
Whilst there's been no market sensitive news out of the airline's camp today, it's worthwhile seeing what's led us to this point.
What's up with the REX share price lately?
September saw the regional airline carrier's share price takeoff from the runway, shooting up almost 30% to a high of $1.70 on October 4.
The onset of this move coincided with Qantas' announcements last that it intends to start travel to some destinations from mid-December.
Despite this, REX announced extended reductions to its staff headcount and further downsizing of its service offerings at the end of the month.
It also advised that its services will remain suspended until 31 October, where it then expects all relevant staff to be double-vaccinated against COVID-19.
In fact, as more and more news comes out regarding the vaccine statistics of Australian's, travel and leisure names share in the good fortune.
The ASX Hotels & Leisure Index has climbed over 12% since mid-August, on optimism of Australia's domestic and international border reopening.
According to the Department of Health, 60.2% of people aged 16 and over are double vaccinated as of 7 October, and 81.5% have had at least one dose.
That means 12.423 million of us are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 here in Australia after another 330,600 doses were recorded in the last 24 hours.
As vaccination rates approach the desired 80% mark, former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian recently resigned, after a corruption probe.
That was a week ago, and REX shares started trading this week with a sharp nosedive, a trend that has continued until today.
The same phenomenon was observed in the broader travel sector as we walk through to finish this week of trading.
Investors appear uncertain about the roadmap out of lockdown given the former Premier's resignation. The resignation has been felt throughout the public and private markets in the past week since it was announced.
REX share price snapshot
The REX share price has been plagued by the pandemic itself this year to date and is in the red from January 1.
The recent momentum hasn't been enough to salvage the REX share price. It has posted a loss of 22% since January 1. Yet, it has gained 16% in the past 12 months, around half that of the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)'s climb of about 25% in this time.
