BEIJING (Reuters) -First quarter losses at China’s three big state-owned airlines deepened from the same quarter last year, results showed on Tuesday, amid intensifying competition and economic pressures on consumers.
China Southern Airlines, Air China, and China Eastern have struggled to return to break-even after the pandemic, despite the industry globally returning to profit in 2023, and have posted five consecutive years of annual losses.
Air China, the country’s flag carrier, reported a net loss of 2.04 billion yuan ($281 million) for the quarter, 22% deeper than the same period a year ago.
China Southern, the country’s largest carrier by capacity, moved into a net loss of 747 million yuan in the first three months of this year, having posted a comparable quarterly profit of 756 million yuan last year.
Shanghai-headquartered China Eastern Airlines reported a quarterly net loss of 995 million yuan, 24% deeper than a year earlier.
The airlines did not comment on the results, but last month cited domestic market competition, low international and business travel demand, supply chain problems and currency depreciation as business challenges.
($1 = 7.2723 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Sophie Yu and Lisa Barrington;Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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