China Southern Airlines posted a net profit of RMB1.9 billion (US$249.5 million) in the third quarter, up 49 per cent from the RMB1.3 billion earned in the same period a year earlier.
Th e company also announced it has sealed a deal to purchase 10, A330-200s, which will be delivered from March 2010 to August 2012.
Th e carrier had earlier committed to purchasing 80, 737-700s/-800s and 20, A320s in the past 12 months, which it said at the time would increase its total capacity by nearly 43 per cent. Th e carriers fleet as at 31 July numbered 310 aircraft, which is projected to grow to 440 by 2010.
Operating out of a “double hub” at Beijing and Guangzhou the carrier has been putting greater emphasis on international expansion with services launched this year to Kathmandu, Dubai, Yangon, Phuket, Siem Reap and Delhi from Guangzhou and plans to open routes to Vientiane, Sapporo, Tehran, Luanda and Sendai by year end.
Next year it will start daily Beijing-Newark and Guangzhou-Moscow flights and in 2009 it will fl y from Beijing-Detroit- London and Guangzhou to Vancouver.