Shares of South Korean budget carrier Jeju Air (089590.KS), opens new tab hit their lowest on record on Monday, after the deadliest air crash in the country killed 179 people.

Jeju Air shares traded down 8.5% as of 0312 GMT, after falling as much as 15.7% earlier in the session to 6,920 won, the lowest since they were listed in 2015. The share slide on Monday wiped out as much as 95.7 billion won ($65.2 million) in market capitalisation.

Shares of AK Holdings (006840.KS), opens new tab, the holding company of Jeju Air, fell as much as 12% and hit their lowest in 16 years.

The crash on Sunday at Muan International Airport was the first fatal flight for Jeju Air, a low-cost airline founded in 2005 and the country's third-largest carrier by passenger numbers.

South Korea's acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country's entire airline operation system once the recovery work on the Jeju Air crash is finished.

Among other budget carriers, Air Busan (298690.KS), opens new tab rose more than 15%. Jin Air (272450.KS), opens new tab and T'way Air (091810.KS), opens new tab fell after rising as much as 5.4% and 7.3%, respectively.

South Korea's two major airlines, Korean Air Lines (003490.KS), opens new tab dropped 1.3% and Asiana Airlines (020560.KS), opens new tab fell 0.8%.

"It will take time to assess the cause of the accident, but consumer sentiment will inevitably be hurt, as credibility is important for budget carriers whose seats and services are not much different from each other," said Yang Seung-yoon, an analyst at Eugene Investment Securities.

"In terms of overall travel demand, there might be some cancellations in the short term, but it is unlikely to weaken structurally."

Travel agencies shut down their ads and promotional events, with tour package cancellations doubling and bookings halving for one operator, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Many victims of the plane crash, the worst in the country's history, appeared to be returning from vacation for the holiday season, officials said.

The Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea crashed on arrival Sunday, smashing into a barrier and bursting into flames, killing everyone aboard except for two flight attendants plucked from the wreckage.

A bird strike was cited by authorities as the likely cause of the crash -- the worst ever aviation disaster on South Korean soil -- which flung passengers out of the plane and left it "almost completely destroyed", according to fire officials.

Video showed the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 landing on its belly at Muan International Airport, skidding off the runway as smoke streamed out from the engines, before crashing into a wall and exploding in flames.