Lower expenses helped to push Air China’s operating profit for the third quarter up 5.4% to CNY4.86 billion ($690 million).
This was despite the airline posting a fall in total revenue for the quarter ended 30 September with a 2.3% decrease to CNY37.8 billion. Total expenses decreased 2.4% to CNY34.5 billion.
Net profit for the three month period came in at CNY3.62 billion, a 4.4% increase from the same time last year.
For the first nine months of this year, the Star Alliance carrier saw its operating profit drop 3.7% to CNY9.24 billion, compared to the same period last year.
Total operating revenue grew marginally to CNY103 billion, while total operating cost rose 0.6% to CNY97.5 billion.
As of 30 September, Air China had CNY7.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents, slightly less than the CNY8.6 billion it had on the same date a year ago.
