Performance divergence of the three major airlines by 2025: China Southern Airlines turn losses into profits with a net profit of 8.57 billion yuan, while China Eastern Airlines and Air China have not kept up.

Recently, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines have successively released their annual reports for 2025. Overall, the aviation industry continues to recover, with all three major airlines achieving year-on-year increases in operating income, and their operating scales have basically returned to the level of 2019. However, there is a significant differentiation in terms of profitability among the three airlines: China Southern Airlines was the first to achieve a turnaround from loss to profit, marking its first annual profit since 2020, while Air China and China Eastern Airlines are still in a loss-making situation. None of the three airlines have fully recovered to the profit levels of 2019, and there is a significant difference in performance. In 2025, the net profit attributable to the parent company of Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines were -17.7 billion yuan, -16.33 billion yuan, and 8.57 billion yuan respectively. China Southern Airlines was the first to achieve profitability, while Air China and China Eastern Airlines are still in a loss-making situation.