Annual Report Insight | Just as performance began to improve, oil prices surged. Will the three major airlines continue to "recover" in 2026?

As of April 1, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines have all completed the disclosure of their 2025 annual reports. The data shows that in 2025, the three major airlines achieved a total revenue of 493.682 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.36%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was -2.546 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.66%. As the "national team" of the domestic air transport industry, the performance of the three major airlines has always been regarded as a "barometer" of industry prosperity. In 2025, the civil aviation industry continued its steady growth trend, with the total passenger transport volume increasing by 5.5% year-on-year to 770 million passengers. However, against the backdrop of an overall industry recovery, the performance of the three major airlines in 2025 showed significant differentiation: China Southern Airlines was the first to turn losses into profits, while Air China and others fell into the embarrassing situation of "book losses" due to accounting standards. In 2025, the strong recovery of international routes injected key growth momentum into the three major airlines. However, entering 2026, the risk of high oil prices has surged, becoming a "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the airlines. For the three major airlines, which are teetering on the line of profit and loss, whether they can continue to reduce losses and achieve overall profitability in 2026 remains a severe test. China Southern Airlines "turned losses into profits," while Air China faced "book losses." In 2025, the operating revenue of the three major airlines all reached historical highs. China Southern Airlines continued to lead with a revenue scale of 182.256 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.61%; Air China achieved a revenue of 171.485 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.87%; China Eastern Airlines had a revenue of 139.941 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.92%