Domestic airlines return to profits in February

Chinese airlines went back to the black last month, after three consecutive months of losses, thanks to a traveling boom during the Chinese New Year.

Domestic carriers booked 1.2 billion yuan ($191 million) in profits in February, ending a three-month losing streak. In January, airlines reported losses of 1 billion yuan, China Business News reported on Monday.

In February, airlines reached 31.4 billion yuan in revenue, up 18.2 percent year-on-year, and profits surged 305 percent year-on-year to 1.2 billion yuan.

As the Chinese New Year fell in February in 2013, while last year it was in January, the combined data of the two months is more accurate and reasonable, an insider from an airlines marketing department said.

Chinese airlines registered a combined profit of 200 million yuan in the first two months, a sharp fall from the 3 billion yuan profits in the same period last year.

Sun Chao, an analyst at Pingan Securities, said that there’s a slim chance that Chinese airlines achieve a stronger first-quarter performance than last year, and that they should focus on breaking even as traffic usually drops in March.

Business travelers will become more active in late March and April, which will help boost the airlines’ seat kilometer utilization, said Su Baoliang, a CITIC Securities analyst.

Contact the writer at wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn