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China Southern returns to profit in 2025 after five years of losses

By Thomson Reuters Mar 30, 2026 | 8:57 AM

BEIJING/HONG KONG, March 30 (Reuters) – China Southern Airlines on Monday reported a net profit of ​857 million yuan ($124.01 million) ‌for 2025, returning to the black for the first time since 2019, as it benefited from operational improvements ‌and ​tighter cost controls.

The ⁠Guangzhou-based carrier’s full-year ⁠profit was within the company’s January guidance range of 800 million yuan to 1 billion yuan ​and compared with a net loss of 1.7 billion ⁠yuan in 2024.

It was ⁠the only one of ​China’s “Big 3” state-owned airlines to report ​a full-year net profit in ‌2025.

In its earnings guidance, the airline said the industry still faced a challenging external environment, ⁠supply-chain tightness and rising prices for aircraft, aviation materials and engines. But the ⁠carrier said ‌it had improved ⁠its performance by optimising passenger ​and ‌cargo capacity allocation and ​strengthening cost ⁠controls.

($1 = 6.9105 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Sophie Yu in Beijing and Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; Editing by Jamie Freed and ​Tomasz Janowski)