Shanghai Air Q1 Net Drops On Weak Demand

Regional carrier Shanghai Airlines, which posted two straight years of annual losses, said its first-quarter net profit fell 28.7 percent, but without government subsidies it would have made a quarterly loss.

Net profit fell to CNY26.3 million yuan (USD$3.9 million) during the first three months of 2009.

Shanghai Airlines said it was suffering from a downturn in travel demand during the global financial crisis, lower ticket prices and foreign exchange losses.

Chairman Zhou Chi said last month that the company might return to profit in 2009, if an expected pick-up in air traffic happens in April.

Shanghai Airlines expanded its net loss to CNY1.25 billion in 2008 from CNY435.12 million during the previous year.