China's three biggest airlines have reported a rise in third-quarter net profit on strong domestic travel demand.
China Southern, Asia's biggest carrier, saw its net profit for July-September surge 29.40 percent year-on-year to 4.28 billion yuan ($643.7 million), according to a stock exchange statement Monday.
Flag carrier Air China said its third-quarter net profit surged 31.39 percent year-on-year to 4.95 billion yuan, according to a statement late last week to the Hong Kong exchange, where it is listed.
The carrier said strong economic growth in the quarter, and buoyant demand during the summer holiday season from July to August, boosted earnings.
"Despite challenges the aviation industry still faces, such as foreign exchange rate, oil price, geological and political situations… the overall market supply and demand trend improved," Air China said in a statement.
Chinese carriers have benefited from a boom in domestic and international air trips as the country's middle class spends more on travel and leisure.
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines reported slower growth than the others for the third quarter, up 3.09 percent to 3.59 billion yuan.
Its investment of 375 million euros for a 10 percent stake in Air France-KLM was completed on October 3.
Shares in China Southern and Air China were both boosted on Monday by the upbeat earnings.
Air China closed up 1.41 percent in Shanghai, where it is also listed, and jumped 3.92 percent in Hong Kong. China Southern added 0.94 percent in Shanghai and was 1.21 percent higher in Hong Kong.
The subscale X-56A is scheduled for a series of research flights in November to prove enabling technology for designing aircraft with highly flexible, lightweight wings. The use of less structurally-rigid wings could be critical to future long-range, fuel-efficient airliners.
A risk reduction flight Aug. 31 from Armstrong demonstrated that past challenges experienced during takeoffs and la … read more
