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China's aviation reports first monthly profit

By Lu Haoting (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-02-26 14:17

The entire aviation industry in China made a combined profit of 40 million yuan in January while passenger traffic rose 20 percent from a year earlier period despite the worsening global economy, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.

Related readings:  Price floor to be set for air tickets  Airlines slash fares by 60%  Small airports count losses as more take off

“This must be seen as a special achievement given the fact that the industry lost 28.2 billion yuan last year. The industry has shown some signs of recovery and aviation is still a growing industry in China," CAAC Director Li Jiaxiang said on Feb 26.

Last year Chinese airlines took a hard blow from soaring oil prices in the early months. Compounding the problem was the snowstorm in a large part of China, the earthquake in Sichuan province and galloping inflation.

The biggest blow came late last year after the outbreak of the US credit crisis which is dragging the global economy deeper into a recession.

The CAAC at the end of last year issued a series of policies, including offering subsidies and lowering taxes, to help the industry weather what has now come to be known as “the financial tsunami".