Beijing: China Southern Airlines Co, Asia's biggest carrier by passenger numbers, said it boosted first-half profit more than 54-fold because of surging travel demand and the sale of a stake in a maintenance venture.

Net income rose to 2.1 billion yuan (Dh1.13 billion), from 38 million yuan a year earlier, the company said in a Shanghai stock exchange statement yesterday. That beat the 1.98 billion yuan average of three analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The airline made an operating profit of 1.2 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 574 million yuan a year earlier.

China Southern, Air China Ltd and China Eastern Airlines Corp, the country's three big carriers, boosted first-half passengers by at least 17 per cent as economic growth stoked demand for leisure and business travel. Guangzhou-based China Southern also sold its 1.6 billion yuan stake in MTU Maintenance Zhuhai Co to its parent to focus on flying and to pare debts.

"A rebound in the economy has spurred travel demand for all airlines," said Leo Fan, an analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co. "We expect profit growth to continue and earnings may surpass 2007 levels."

First-half sales rose 39 per cent to 34.7 billion yuan, the company said. The airline flew 36.2 million travellers in the period. It filled 77.9 per cent of available seats, an increase of 3.1 percentage points.

The carrier rose 0.8 per cent to HK$3.85 in Hong Kong before the announcement. The shares have climbed 59 per cent this year, compared with a 45 percent gain for Air China and an increase of 56 percent for China Eastern.

Malaysian air in red

Malaysian Airline System Bhd., the country's largest carrier, slumped to a second-quarter loss after betting wrongly on the price of jet fuel.

The net loss totalled 534.7 million ringgit (Dh618.7 million), or 16 sen per share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with a net income of 874.9 million ringgit, or 42.61 sen, a year ago, the national airline said in an exchange filing yesterday. The flag carrier also said it agreed with Airbus SAS for compensation for delays in delivering the super-jumbo planes. Malaysian Air had paper losses of 217.2 million ringgit on derivatives trading in the second quarter.