Air China Limited Announces 2013 First Quarter Results

Hong Kong — April 25, 2013 — Air China Limited (“Air China” or “the Company,” together with its subsidiaries, collectively “the Group”) (HKEX: 00753; LSE: AIRC; SSE: 601111: ADR OTC: AIRYY), today announced its results for the three months ended 31 March 2013.

Operating and Business Highlights
During the first quarter of 2013, the economy in China remained stable and the demand of the local aviation market also grew steadily. Both the international air passenger and air cargo businesses have not shown any notable signs of improvement. During the Period, the Group’s operating revenue was RMB22.72 billion, a decrease of 0.77% year-on-year. Operating profit grew 12.57% compared with the same period in 2012 to RMB213 million. Net profit reached RMB249 million, an increase of 3.98% from the corresponding period last year.

During the Period, passenger capacity, measured by Available Seat Kilometer (“ASK”), rose by 5.47% year-over-year to 41.05 billion. Passenger capacity or ASK on international routes decreased slightly by 0.76% year-on-year to 11.19 billion but on domestic and regional routes increased by 7.95% and 9.01% year-on-year to 27.83 billion and 2.03 billion respectively. Passenger traffic measured by Revenue Passenger Kilometers (“RPK”) was 33.53 billion, up 8.7% from the same period in 2012. Passenger traffic or RPK on international, domestic and regional routes increased by 2.65%, 11.03% and 12.01% year-on-year to 8.95 billion, 23.09 billion and 1.49 billion respectively. The passenger load factor was 81.67%, a gain of 2.43 percentage points compared with the same period in 2012. The load factor for international, domestic and regional routes was 80%, 82.95% and 73.35% respectively, representing increases of 2.66, 2.31 and 1.96 percentage points year-over-year respectively.

During the Period, cargo capacity as measured by Available Freight Tonne Kilometers (“AFTK”), increased by 3.24% year-on-year to 1.997 billion. Cargo traffic as measured by Revenue Freight Tonne Kilometers (“RFTK”), rose by 3.63% to 1.07 billion. The cargo and mail load factor was 53.73%, an increase of 0.20 percentage points year-on-year.

Outlook
Mr. Wang Changshun, Chairman of Air China said, “In 2013, we will continue to strengthen strategic management and construction of our network infrastructure, adopt measures to address changes in the market, work to enhance passengers’ experience and generate greater synergies with our strategic partners. We will also further improve the integration of our operations and strengthen competitiveness so as to achieve sustainable growth.”