On July 26, China Southern Airlines said that it was profitable in the first-half of this year, after it had lost 835 million yuan (US$110 million) in the same period last year.

The company attributed the turnaround to rising demand in the Chinese market coupled with the yuan's appreciation.

It was the third mainland China's state-owned airline recently to announce encouraging first-half results.

On July 23, China Eastern Airlines said it was in the black after two years of losses. On July 25, Air China revealed that its first-half profit jumped more than 20 times.