Air China reported a higher quarterly net profit Thursday, which it said was helped by a strengthening yuan and improved passenger and cargo volumes. China’s flag carrier posted profit attributable to shareholders of 2.63b yuan ($415.6m) for January to March, 79.2% higher than the 1.47b yuan it reported for the same period last year. Meanwhile, rival China Eastern, the country’s second-largest by passenger numbers, said on Thursday its net profit attributable to shareholders fell 29.6% to 1.98b yuan for the quarter. But discounting one-off gains from an asset sale that it made in the first quarter of 2017, China Eastern said its profits rose 49.4%, citing a 9.1% rise in passenger traffic as one driver. The two airlines have financed their fleet expansions using many dollar-denominated loans to buy aircraft, so the strengthening of the yuan has helped cut finance costs. It has also helped them offset higher operating costs as fuel prices rise. Air China’s 2017 results had lagged analysts’ forecasts due to higher-than-expected operating costs. <br/>
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Lufthansa reported slower than expected profit growth in the first three months of the year, held back by costs of expanding its Eurowings budget carrier amid a wave of consolidation among Europe's short-haul airlines. Lufthansa has been at the forefront of a frenzy of M&A activity, snapping up Brussels Airlines and parts of insolvent Air Berlin last year to spread its wings in the competitive budget market. While the collapse of Air Berlin has driven more passengers to its brands, Lufthansa said Thursday one-off costs from digesting its former competitor had pushed Eurowings to an adjusted loss of E203m in the three months to the end of March. CFO Ulrik Svensson said Air Berlin's insolvency was a "once in a lifetime opportunity to consolidate the German market", but said upgrading Air Berlin's fleet had kept some planes in hangars and would lead to further one-off expenses in coming months. Lufthansa has its eye on further consolidation and has submitted what it called a "concept paper" to Italian authorities setting out its idea for a new Alitalia with fewer planes and staff. Svensson said the company would only pursue the struggling Italian airline if it were restructured. <br/>
The largest labour union at Poland’s national airline LOT will begin a strike on May 1 that could lead to delays at Warsaw Chopin airport, the head of the ZZPPiL union said. “We will protest until the expectations of the employees are met,” Monika Zelazik told state news agency PAP on Thursday referring to demands that LOT change the way it compensates employees. Zelazik said the strike is likely to have the biggest impact at Warsaw Chopin, where flights may be grounded or delayed. LOT spokesman Adrian Kubicki said the strike, if it goes ahead, would be illegal as it was not backed by all six labour unions that have negotiated with LOT.<br/>