An Air China Airbus A330 takes off from Beijing Capital International Airport.[Provided to China Daily]

Air China Ltd , the country's flag carrier, reported a 7.3 percent fall in its third-quarter profit as a slowing economy hurt business travel.

The Beijing-based airline said profit dropped to 2.94 billion yuan ($483.12 million) in July-September from 3.17 billion yuan a year earlier, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

For the first nine months, Air China said profit was 4.39 billion yuan, compared with 4.69 billion yuan a year earlier.

A slower first-half in domestic business travel has weighed on major Chinese carriers including Southern Airlines Ltd and China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd.

Air China is expected to maintain its lead over domestic rivals due to its rapid expansion of international routes, which now account for about 40 percent of its revenue.

Air China's Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 0.4 percent ahead of the earnings release, lagging a 0.2 percent gain in the Hang Seng Index.

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