Thanks to the peak summer time, lower fuel cost and currency exchange rate, most airline companies in China have reported robust performance in their third-quarter financial results.
The Big Three Chinese carriers – Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – together have made larger net profit in the first nine months of 2016 than the full year of 2015.
In January to September this year, all the three state-owned airline companies’ individual operating revenue saw a slight increase, but their net profit growth ranged from 15%-35%.
This was mainly due to the increasingly stabilized Renminbi exchange rate, airlines improving their liabilities structure, reducing proportion of their dollar-based debt and lowering their financial expenditure.
The three carriers all posted operating revenue growth of less than 5% in the first three quarters of 2016. Air China recorded the highest net profit of RMB 7.22 billion in January to September while China Southern Airlines saw the highest 35% increase in net profit for the period.
Guangzhou-based China Southern registered the most RMB 86.65 billion operating revenue for the first three quarters. Hainan Airlines, China’s largest privately owned carrier, also posted strong gains in its operating revenue and net profit during the period. (Translated by Jerry)
