China's Top 3 Airlines Post Bigger Losses

China's three biggest airlines on Friday posted wider third-quarter losses than in the previous quarter as a resurgence of local COVID-19 cases drove a sharp decline in domestic travel and international borders remained closed.

Photo Insert: Air China, the country's flagship carrier, was among the airlines that posted wider losses.

Beijing-based Air China Ltd., the country's flagship carrier, said its net loss attributable to shareholders rose to 3.5 billion yuan ($547 million) in the third quarter from 578 million yuan in the second quarter, taking the nine-month net loss to 10.3 billion yuan.

China Eastern Airlines saw its net loss grow to 3.0 billion yuan from 1.4 billion yuan in the second quarter. The total loss to shareholders amounted to 8.2 billion yuan in the first three quarters.

China Southern Airlines widened its loss to 1.4 billion yuan from 682 million yuan in the second quarter for a nine-month total shortfall of 6.1 billion yuan, Stella Qiu and Jamie Freed reported for Reuters.

A resurgence of COVID-19 cases since late July involving local airports and tour groups has been a substantial setback to the domestic travel market. China's air passenger traffic dropped 51.5% in August from a year ago, before recovering to a decline of 24.7% in September, official data showed.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has said it is studying more measures to help airlines financially.

The lackluster state of the travel market has also led some Chinese airlines to roll out "all you can fly" promotional deals in the past few weeks to stimulate demand.

With the Chinese market tepid, there appears to be little urgency for the CAAC to certify Boeing 737 MAX planes, which it grounded more than two years ago over two fatal crashes. Sources told Reuters that chances are growing that Chinese certification will slip to next year.

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