Chinese airlines skirting fuel hedge profit from plunge in oil

China’s airlines are reaping the benefits of a policy not to hedge in the oil market, unlike some of their rivals across Asia Pacific. The ’Big Three’ Chinese airlines will probably report next week at least a 70% surge in net income for 2015 amid a plunge in oil prices, which helps to trim their biggest expenditure. Hainan Airlines, the biggest non-govt carrier, is due to report Thursday. The Chinese carriers’ strategy is in contrast to Cathay Pacific and SIA, which both reported hundreds of millions of dollars from hedging losses last year. Crude oil’s plunge to a 12-year low in January has fuelled a rally among airline shares amid a surge in traffic in a country set to become the world’s biggest travel market. Passenger traffic rose 11% last year to 440m trips. <br/>