China Eastern Airlines has stated its net profits for 2010 should be more than 10 times that of 2009 thanks to the rising demand for air travel in China and Asia. Net profit for the airline in 2009 were 540 million yuan ($81.73 million).
"The air transportation market has been recovering rapidly and continued to grow in 2010. In particular, the air transportation market of the People's Republic of China has continued to grow rapidly," the airline stated.
In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, China Eastern said the record profits were the results of the acquisition of Shanghai Airlines and traffic driven by the World Expo in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines has announced it will start flights toKathmandu three times a week from January 11 using Boeing 737-700 aircraft.
China Eastern Airlines Corp., shares rose the most in more than a month in Hong Kong trading today after forecasting a 10-fold jump in 2010 net income. Shares rose 7.5% to HK$4.46 before falling back to HK$4.32. The company’s Shanghai shares rose as much as 2.9%.