China's Hainan Airlines Co Ltd, partly owned by global financier George Soros, returned to the black last year after posting a massive loss in 2003 because of the Sars outbreak. The airline, based in the sun-drenched southern resort island of Hainan, made a net profit of 90.65 million yuan ($10.95 million) in 2004, it said in a statement on Friday in the official Shanghai Securities News. It lost just more than 1 billion yuan in 2003, hit by the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which ravaged Asia's airline industry in the first half of that year.
Turnover jumped by half to 8.41 billion yuan, but it did not say how many passengers it carried in 2004. The airline also said it had altered 2003 figures after an accounting adjustment. It now mainly flies to domestic destinations, but has expanded its network to include Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka and Budapest.
Hainan Air said it would add 19 aircraft this year, including Boeing Co and Airbus SAS jets.