Mainland flights boost China Airlines
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Taiwan’s largest carrier, China Airlines, has said that it could return to profitability by the end of the year, as a result of strong demand for its direct cross-strait flights to mainland China. Reuters reported the airline’s President, Philip Wei, as saying that the airline lost money in the year to July and cannot be sure of a profit by the year’s end, but its Taiwan-China flights, which account for 10% of its business, have made money as the global economy shows signs of a rebound.
“Flights between Taiwan and mainland China can help our overall performance,” Wei told Reuters in an interview. “The worst of the global downturn has already passed, though the recovery speed is still pretty slow for both passengers and cargo.”
China Airlines has seen a pick-up this month as it looks forward to the 31 August launch of 55 scheduled direct flights between Taiwan and China. It currently operates 22 flights on a charter basis. China and Taiwan agreed in April to allow a total of 270 flights per week, up from the current 108.
Analysts expected China Airlines to post a TW$3.181 billion (US$90 million) net loss for all of 2009, according to Reuters Estimates.
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