Beijing, April 20  China Southern Airlines Co, the country's largest carrier by fleet size, said Sunday that its first-quarter profit soared 523 percent year-on-year on the stronger yuan and greater passenger numbers.
Net profit rose to 796 million yuan ($114 million), or 0.18 yuan per share, the airline said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, citing domestic accounting standards.

The Guangzhou-based carrier said on the same day that its 2007 profit surged 786 percent to 1.85 billion yuan ($264 million), or 0.42 yuan per share, from 209 million yuan ($30 million), or 0.05 yuan per share, in 2006. Revenue rose 18.2 percent to 55.9 billion yuan ($8 million) in 2007.

Chinese currency, the yuan, gained 6.9 percent against the US dollar last year, reducing the value of China Southern's repatriated dollar-denominated debts.

The country's booming economy, which grew 11.9 percent last year, has also made business trips and holiday travels by air affordable to more residents.

Passenger numbers jumped 15.6 percent to 56.9 million last year, while cargo and mail volume climbed 6.5 percent to 872,000 tonnes.

Air China, the second-largest carrier by fleet, said in mid March that net profit rose 30.37 percent to 3.88 billion yuan ($555 million) last year. China Eastern Airlines, the smallest of the nation's three major state-owned carriers, reported April 15 a net profit of 586 million yuan ($84 million) for 2007.