Aviation industry reports net profits
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-28 14:13
China's civil aviation industry reported net profits of more than 5 billion
yuan (625 million U.S. dollars) in the third quarter of the year, reversing the
sector's loss-making trend in the January-June period.
Saturday's
quarterly reports from Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern
Airlines, the country's three major airlines, declared net profits of 3.345
billion yuan, 492 million yuan and 1.288 billion yuan respectively from July to
September.
China's flag carrier Air China attributed its net profit
increase to membership of the Star Alliance, an international airline grouping
of 18 aviation companies.
Joining the Star Alliance member has helped
save resources and cut costs, it said.
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines
and Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines reported that booming summer holiday
flights had driven up net profits.
China Eastern said it carried 9.47
million passengers and transported 232,700 tons of cargos in July-September, an
increase of 19 percent and 11 percent respectively year on year. Business
revenue grew 46 percent year on year to 26.7 billion yuan in the first nine
months of 2006.
China Southern said it transported 223,000 tons of cargo
from July to September, up 4.1 percent from the same quarter of 2005. The
company's business revenue increased by 18.5 percent to 34.9 billion yuan in the
first three quarters.
In the first six months of this year, the civil
aviation industry reported an overall loss of 640 million yuan, but airline
losses amounted to 2.57 billion yuan.
An analyst with Zhongxin Jiantou
said the civil aviation industry was unlikely to face new losses this year.
Falling oil prices and the potential further appreciation of the Chinese
currency would turn the situation around, he predicted.
But the profit
increase will slow because the fourth quarter is usually a slack season for
airlines. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
|
