China’s ‘Big Three’ forecast losses amid sluggish international recovery

China’s three largest carriers are expected to remain loss-making for the first-half, as they blamed a slower-than-forecast international recovery, coupled with domestic overcapacity. Still, the ‘Big Three’ – comprising Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – have forecast a narrower net loss in the six months to 30 June, compared to the year-ago period. Their forecasts differ from that of several privately-owned Chinese airlines, some of whom expect to return to profitability during the period. It also stands in stark contrast to other airlines in Asia-Pacific, many of whom are already reporting profits as Covid-19 travel restrictions ease. China only scrapped most of its onerous ‘zero-Covid’ policies late 2022, but international travel has been slow to pick up since then. Air China expects a net loss of between CNY3.2 and 3.9b ($447-545m) for the half-year. This compares to the staggering CNY19.4b loss the Beijing-based airline posted in the year-ago period, and the carrier attributes the narrowing of losses to stricter cost control. Story has more.<br/>