Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd., one of China's four major air carriers, reported a 4.4% gain in first-half profit to 1.67 billion yuan though the gain was limited by foreign-exchange losses.

Total revenue for the airline rose 14.3% to 18.996 billion yuan, while operating expenses rose 15% to 17.5 billion yuan, the company said in an announcement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday night.

Net profit attributable to shareholders rose 4.4% to 1.67 billion yuan. Earnings per share stood at 0.137 yuan, compared with 0.132 yuan one year earlier.

The Haikou-based airline credited the expanding fleet as the main reason for the improved performance.

Over the six months, the Haikou-based carrier transported 22.32 million passengers, an increase of 20.37% from a year earlier. Passenger load factor averaged 88.15%, largely stable compared to the same period last year.

Capacity as measured in available seat kilometers (ASK) rose 23.4% as the airline introduced 9 new aircraft, while retiring five in the first six months.

The majority of the growth in ASKs came from its international operations, which produced a 57.8% increase in capacity, while RPKs were up 53.9%. That resulted in international load factor calling 2 percentage points to 81.2%.

On the domestic front, capacity increased 18.1% and RPKs by 18.3%, resulting in steady load factor of 89.6%.

As of June 30, 2016, Hainan Airlines has operated 206 aircraft, comprising 16 Boeing 737-700s, 147 737-800s, three 767-300s, 10 787s, one 787-9, three Airbus A319s, four A320s, eight A330-200s and 14 A330-300 aircraft.