Air China flies to profit on strong air travel rebound ( 2004-01-15 10:18) (eastday.com)
Air China, the country's flag carrier, flew to a net profit of 93 million
yuan (US$11.27 million) last year, becoming the first airline among the three
largest carriers on the Chinese mainland to report its annual financial results.
The carrier, which is planning to list shares on the Hong Kong stock market,
targets to earn 1 billion yuan in profit this year, said company spokesman Wang
Yongsheng.
Wang said in an e-mail yesterday that Air China lost 1.92 billion yuan during
the first half of 2003 due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome,
or SARS, which deter passengers from flying for months.
It made up the loss by earning 2.01 billion yuan during the second half of
last year, taking advantage of strong rebound in the domestic air travel market.
Last year, Air China carried 18.05 million passengers and 564,000 tons of air
freight, but the company didn't provide a comparison with the previous year.
Turnover from its core business totaled 22.26 billion yuan.
Anticipating air traffic to grow this year, the Beijing-based carrier will
introduce 21 new planes to its fleet, which comprises more than 130 aircraft.
"Most analysts believe that airlines will fare much better in 2004 if there
was no major upset of any kind as international tourists, who kept away from
China out of SARS fears, will return and air traffic within China is always
growing,"said Zhu Anping, an analyst with Shenyin & Wanguo Research and
Consulting Co Ltd.
Air China expects to have a turnover of 24 billion yuan from carrying 23
million passengers and 4.73 billion yuan from the 696,000 tons of freight this
year.
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd and Guangzhou-based China
Southern Airlines Co Ltd, the two major rivals of Air China, haven't disclosed
financial results yet, but analysts said the two are likely to post slight
losses.
