Air China releases 2014 first quarter results

During the first quarter of 2014, the economy in China remained stable as the economies in Europe and the U.S. slowly recovered. The demand of the aviation air passenger market grew steadily and the air cargo market showed a slight improvement when compared to the same period last year. During the Period, the Group’s operating revenue was RMB24,419m, an increase of 7.48% year-on-year. Operating cost was RMB20,733m, an increase of 5.37% year-on-year. Net profit was RMB93m, a decline of 62.71% when compared to the corresponding period last year. The decrease was mainly due to net exchange loss arising from the depreciation of RMB. During the reporting period, operating profit after deducting exchange losses increased by RMB515m as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, mainly due to the combined effects of improved utilization efficiency of freight capacity, effective cost controls, as well as lower fuel price compared to that of the corresponding period of the previous year. During the Period, passenger capacity, measured by Available Seat Kilometer (“ASK”), rose by 11.92% year-over-year. Passenger traffic measured by Revenue Passenger Kilometers (“RPK”) was up 12.04% from the same period in 2013. The passenger load factor was 81.76%, a gain of 0.08 points compared with the same period in 2013.