File photo/NBD

On the evening of April 27th, Spring Airlines released its 2022 annual report. The company achieved operating revenue of 8.369 billion yuan during the period, representing a year-on-year decrease of 22.92%, and net loss attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 3.036 billion yuan.

In terms of the operating data, in 2022, Spring Airlines completed transport turnover of 2,119.695 million ton-kilometers and passenger turnover of 22,659.799 million passenger-kilometers, down 33.5% and 34.1% year on year. The airlines transported 13.605 million passengers, and the passenger load factor was 74.7%, showing a decrease of 36.1% and 8.2 percentage points respectively compared to 2021.  

Although the operation encountered unprecedented impact in 2022, the Chinese civil aviation industry has been recovering since the start of 2023. Spring Airlines' international and regional routes have also benefited from the rapid recovery of the Asia-Pacific market, especially the Chinese and Thai market.

In the first quarter report for 2023, Spring Airlines achieved operating revenue of 3.863 billion yuan, showing a year-on-year increase of 63.65%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company stood at 356 million yuan, turning loss into gain.

It is worth noting that five shareholders offloaded their holdings in Spring Airlines in the first quarter of this year, with shares axed totalling 11.0142 million. Among them, Shanghai ChunXiang Investment reduced its holdings by 3.7015 million shares, Shanghai Chunyi Investment reduced its holdings by 1.3225 million shares, and GF Securities reduced its holdings by 89,000 shares.

Looking into the future, the International Air Transport Association pointed out that the recovery will still be the main theme in 2023, and the global air passenger traffic is expected to reach the level of 2019 in 2024. According to the its forecast, the global aviation industry is estimated to lose nearly 7 billion US dollars in 2022, but will achieve a profit of 4.7 billion US dollars in 2023.