China Southern Airlines continues to lead the way among the country’s leading three operators after more than trebling its operating profit at the halfway point of the year, though all three remain in the red at a net level amid mixed fortunes.
Indeed, while China Southern and China Eastern both enjoyed improved fortunes for the first half, Air China’s operating losses deepened over the same period.
China Southern posted an operating profit of CNY4.5 billion ($633 million) over the first six months of the year, as revenues riose 18% to CNY84.8 billion.
While the carrier still made a net loss of CNY400 million over the first half, it did mark a significant reduction on the almost CNY2.5 billion it lost at the same stage last year.
SkyTeam China Eastern Airlines also turned an operating profit in the first half, albeit of only CNY40 million. That marked a big swing from the CNY2.6 billion the Shanghai-based carrier lost at the same stage last year. That profit was achieved on revenues up almost CNY15 billion to CNY64.1 billion for the six months to June.
China Eastern remains in the red at a net level with a loss of CNY3.1 billion – though this was a more than halving of the CNY6.6 billion it lost six months before.
However, Air China endured a tougher first half. The Star Alliance carrier’s operating loss widened to nearly CNY1.1 billion from CNY900 million. It also made relatively limited inroads into net losses, cutting these to CNY3.5 billion from just over CNY4 billion in the first half.
That came despite Air China lifting revenues by around a third to CNY79.5 billion.
