Aviation stocks experienced a collective downturn. At the time of writing, China Eastern Airlines (00670) fell 3.98% to HK$5.31; China Southern Airlines (01055) dropped 3.63% to HK$5.84; Air China (00753) declined 2.06% to HK$7.14; and Cathay Pacific Airways (00293) decreased 2.04% to HK$12.47.
Following the New Year's Day holiday, domestic airfares on numerous routes have seen a significant "price plunge," with some tickets dropping as low as 10% of their original price, leading some consumers to opt for off-peak travel. An inquiry on a third-party ticketing platform revealed that recent flights from Guangzhou to several cities are available for just over two hundred yuan; for instance, the lowest fare from Guangzhou to Shanghai on January 7 was 210 yuan (excluding taxes), equivalent to a 1.1% discount.
Furthermore, on Thursday, Brent crude futures surged by up to 5% during the session, hitting a nearly two-week high, and ultimately settled at $61.99 per barrel, an increase of $2.03 or 3.4% from the previous trading day. This marks the highest closing price since December 24 of last year.
Huachuang Securities pointed out that according to the interim reports disclosed by various airlines for 2025, a 10% change in oil prices corresponds to an annualized cost impact of approximately 4.3 to 5.1 billion yuan for the three major airlines, while a 1% fluctuation in the exchange rate affects them by about 130 to 260 million yuan.
