China Southern Airlines has announced an audited profit attributable to shareholders of CNY188 million (US$24.35 million) for the 2006 calendar year, representing a marked turnaround from recording a loss of CNY1.85 billion in 2005.

The company attributed the return to the black to strong demand for air transportation on the back of steady growth in China's economy.

Total operating expenses grew by CNY6.31 billion, or 15.9 per cent year on year, to CNY45.90 billion in 2006, largely due to higher fuel expenses, operational and maintenance costs.

The group's operating revenue increased by 20.7 per cent from CNY38.29 billion in 2005 to CNY46.22 billion in 2006, resulting from higher traffic volume. The total number of passengers carried rose by 11.5 per cent year on year to 49.21 million passengers in 2006.

Cargo and mail revenue, which accounted for 7.7 per cent of total operating revenue, was up 14.5 per cent over 2005 to CNY3.54 billion in 2006 driven by higher demand.

Domestic passenger revenue, which accounted for 82.2 per cent of the total passenger revenue in 2006, grew by 21.3 per cent over a year ago to CNY34.17 billion in 2006.

The passenger load factor increased by 1.6 percentage points to 71.7 per cent in 2006, up from 70.1 per cent the previous year.