China's top airline groups suffered growing pains in the first six months and, with the price of oil reaching new record levels on almost a weekly basis, the state-sanctioned fleet expansions proved painful for shareholders and executives alike.
China Eastern Airlines, reporting its first result since merging with China Yunnan and Northwest airlines, turned to a loss of 410.4 million yuan in the first six months compared with last year's revised profit of 488.7 million yuan.
China Southern Airlines, which restated its first interim earnings since fully merging with China Northern and Xinjiang airlines, lost 907 million yuan despite expanding its revenue base a comparative 61 per cent for the period, to 17.44 billion yuan.
It restated interim earnings due to 'typographical errors'.
