Air China Posts Double-Digit Capacity Growth in September

Air China Limited (CA) reported two-digit growth in both passenger and cargo capacity in September to meet strong demand in the peak travel month.

The flag carrier announced Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) increased 11.7% in September compared with the same period last year, including 9.7% growth on domestic routes, 17.1% growth on international routes and 0.9% growth on regional routes.

Passenger throughput rose 8.8% year on year. Passenger throughput on domestic routes rose 8.6%, with that on international increasing 13.6%.

The Beijing-based airline carried nearly 7.5 million passengers last month, up 8.8% over the same period a year earlier, according to operating statistics. Passenger numbers for the first three quarters of this year ending September 30 totaled 67.6.2 million, up 8.9% year on year.

The carrier said its cargo capacity as measured by Available Tonne Kilometers (ATK) surged 11.2% year on year in September. Cargo & mail turnover was up 1.3%, and cargo & mail volume increased 3.3%.

Passenger load factor dropped slightly from a year earlier at 79.3%, while freight load factor was down 4.7 percentage points to 54.2%.

Late Thursday, Air China said to report a total net profit of 6.1 billion to 6.3 billion yuan in the first three quarters this year, up 92% to 100% compared with that of 474 million yuan in the same quarter last year.