China Southern 2008 Traffic Growth Slows Sharply

January 13, 2009

China Southern Airlines' passenger volume growth in 2008 slowed to single digits for the first time in five years as a slowing economy curbed demand.

China Southern, the country's largest carrier by fleet size, flew 58.24 million passengers in 2008, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier, data provided on the company's web site showed.

Cargo volume fell 4.30 percent to 834,740 tonnes, the first decline since the outbreak of the SARS crisis in 2003.

In December, the carrier's passenger volume rose 6.2 percent to 4.64 million, but its freight volume slumped 16.9 percent to 65,240 tonnes, the data showed.

China's air traffic began to slide in May as a series of natural disasters and a slowing economy dented demand for air travel.

The country's top airlines, which also include Air China all posted net losses in their third quarter results.

China Eastern Airlines said last week its passenger volume fell 5.4 percent to 37.05 million last year, marking the first drop in at least nine years.

Cargo volume fell 5.6 percent to 887,000 tonnes during the period.

To reduce costs, China Eastern had said it will cut the salary of its senior and mid-level management by between 10 to 30 percent effective next month.

Air China has not announced its annual operating figures yet.

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