China Southern Airlines reported a solid traffic performance for April 2026, underpinned by double-digit growth on international services and resilient cargo demand, according to operating data released to the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges.
Passenger Operations • Total revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) reached 26.17 billion, up 2.83% year-on-year (YoY). International RPK expanded 12.20%, offsetting a 0.72% dip on domestic routes. • Available seat kilometres (ASK) rose 3.68% YoY to 30.84 billion, with international capacity up 12.54% and domestic capacity marginally higher by 0.33%. • Group passenger load factor slipped 0.70 percentage points YoY to 84.88%, weighed down by a 0.90-point drop on domestic networks.
Cargo Operations • Cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTK) climbed 2.75% YoY to 0.84 billion, while available tonne kilometres for cargo and mail (ATK) fell 2.34% to 1.55 billion. • As a result, the cargo and mail load factor improved 2.68 points YoY to 54.04%. International cargo continued to dominate, with RTK up 3.65% YoY and load factor at 60.47%.
Month-on-Month Trends • Compared with March 2026, total RPK declined 7.39% and ASK contracted 6.40%, reflecting normal seasonality after the peak travel period. • Cargo performance remained resilient, as RTK slipped 4.47% MoM against a 4.50% MoM drop in ATK, keeping the load factor virtually unchanged at 54.04%.
Fleet and Network Updates • During April, the carrier added three aircraft—two B737 MAX-8s and one A320 NEO—and retired eight jets, trimming the fleet to 966 aircraft. • New services launched included Hohhot-Chongqing-Bangkok, Wuhan-Jakarta and Nanjing-Jakarta, enhancing connectivity on Southeast Asian routes.
Year-to-Date Snapshot (January–April 2026) • Cumulative RPK totalled 112.63 billion, up 6.59% YoY, while ASK increased 7.06% to 132.40 billion. • Overall passenger load factor edged down 0.37 points YoY to 85.07%. • Cargo and mail RTK advanced 6.15% to 3.35 billion, lifting the cargo load factor 1.32 points to 51.30%.
The disclosed figures are based on internal preliminary statistics and may be adjusted in subsequent periodic reports. Investors are advised to interpret the data accordingly.
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