Hainan Airlines 737-800. Photo: By Rob Finlayson.

Hainan Airlines reported net income of CNY273.3 million ($ 41.9 million) in the first quarter, up 8.2% over a CNY252.5 million profit in the year-ago period, owing to the rapid growth of Chinese domestic market demand and revenue generated by fleet expansion, according to a Shanghai Stock Exchange filing.

Operating revenue climbed 23.1% to CNY5.76 billion while operating expenses jumped 21.5% to CNY4.31 billion. The carrier didn’t disclose first-quarter passenger figures. Load factor improved 1.5 points to 82.9%. Cargo traffic volume decreased 3.8% to 62,000 tonnes.

Chinese carriers are expected to continue reporting first quarter profits given that they posted collective first-quarter net income of CNY5.73 billion ( ATW Daily News, April 21 ).