China: Big three airlines lost $2b as virus kills travel

The big three state-run Chinese airlines reported a slump in earnings in the first quarter as the coronavirus upended travel demand, but there are signs the worst of the crisis is over for them. China Southern and China Eastern lost 5.3b yuan ($750m) and 3.9b yuan, respectively, in the three months ended March 31. Air China posted a loss of 4.8b yuan for the period. Chinese airlines are operating at about half the seat capacity they had before the virus began to impact travel in late January. While the country’s aviation market is off its lows thanks to a pickup in domestic flights as people returned to work, the recovery has a long way to go as there’s little demand for leisure trips and international traffic has screeched to a halt. As the virus upset the pecking order of Chinese airlines, Shanghai-listed budget carrier Spring Airlines at one point emerged as the nation’s biggest carrier by international capacity after the “Big Three” scaled back their operations. Chinese carriers are adding capacity ahead of the national holidays that start Friday and run through May 5. <br/>