China's big three airlines deepen first-quarter losses

China Southern Airlines, Air China, and China Eastern have struggled to return to break-even after the pandemic, despite the industry globally returning to profit in 2023, and have posted five consecutive years of annual losses. Air China, the country's flag carrier, reported a net loss of 2.04 billion yuan ($281 million) for the quarter, 22% deeper than the same period a year ago. China Southern, the country's largest carrier by capacity, moved into a net loss of 747 million yuan in the first three months of this year, having posted a comparable quarterly profit of 756 million yuan last year.