Shandong Airlines : SC : CDG

Shandong Airlines reported net income of CNY302.3 million ($44.2 million) in 2009, nearly quadrupling its prior-year earnings of CNY81 million.

Operating revenue rose 6.3% to CNY5.37 billion and expenses were up just 2.6% to CNY5.1 billion.

The carrier said "cost savings" and "improvement of efficiency" were key to the improved result.

It is noteworthy that the Jinan-based airline's operating revenue on international routes plummeted 18.3% to CNY144 million while revenue from domestic routes jumped 7.5% to CNY5.16 billion.

Total passenger boardings climbed 19.2% to 7.8 million.

Looking ahead, Shandong warned that rising fuel prices, currency exchange rate volatility, the increasing impact of China's high-speed rail network and controlling emissions "remain as challenges."

China's Shandong Airline to buy new Boeing planes

China's Shandong Airlines has said it plans to buy 15 Boeing passenger plabe worth up to USD 1.2 billion amid fast-growing demand for air travel.
The planes will be delivered between 2014 and 2015, the company said in a statement.

The catalogue price for a Boeing 737-800 jet is between USD 75 million and USD 80 million.

The Chinese airline said the actual purchase price it pays will be less because it has been offered a discount.

The deal is yet to be discussed by company shareholders and still needs government approval, the statement added.

Airline traffic in China is expected to exceed 700 million passengers per year by 2020 and 1.5 billion by 2030, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said early this year.

Shandong Airlines has forecast its 2010 profit to be between 591 million yuan (USD 89 million) and 711 million yuan, up 96 per cent to 135 per cent from a year earlier, Xinhua news agency reported.