Fears about a potential outbreak of Ebola have hammered airline stocks across Europe over recent days after a nurse in Madrid was found to have caught the virus, the first person to contract it outside West Africa.However, analyst Robin Byde from Cantor Fitzgerald said that if the Ebola case in Spain is a one-off and the virus is contained then the European airline sector should "rally sharply"."Otherwise, expect a sharp but perhaps short-lived sell-off," he said in a research report on Wednesday.When looking at the potential travel disruptions in Europe, Byde highlighted comparisons with the SARS outbreak between November 2002 and June 2003, during which 775 people died globally of the disease.While the SARS fatality rate was 9.6%, the analyst pointed out that the disease was likely spread by respiratory droplets, unlike Ebola which is not an airborne virus.Between November 2002 and March 2003, Byde said that global airline stocks dropped by around 25% as tourism in some regions fell by 90%.While the sector rebounded by around 50% in the following six months, boosted in part by a strong economic recovery, "profits were hit fairly hard, globally and in Europe", he said."One positive point for today, valuations for the main European carriers are 30% lower than in 2003. Also, the European sector has already seen a sharp recent sell-off, down 20% in the past two quarters," Byde said.As for stock picks, Cantor's preferred low-cast carrier is UK-listed Easyjet, while German group Deutsche Lufthansa is its preferred flag carrier - both stocks are rated as 'buys'.IAG, which has been hit harder than most in recent sessions due to its exposure to Spain through its Iberia and Vueling businesses, was rated as a 'hold'.