For the third quarter alone, China Southern Airlines is the only air company achieving a profit among the three major carriers, with a net profit of 711 million yuan, comparing with a loss of 671 million yuan for Air China and 563 million yuan for China Eastern Airlines.

Beijing-based Air China, Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines and Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines posted a loss of 10.1 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion), 9.1 billion yuan, and 7.5 billion yuan in the first three quarters, down 249.54 percent, 308.50 percent and 283.01 percent year on year, respectively.

Air China and China Eastern Airlines are still at a loss, but the decline in net profit has significantly narrowed. From July to September, the total loss of the two airlines was 1.23 billion yuan, only accounting for 6.8 percent of the total loss in the first half of the year.

The domestic air transport industry is showing recovery in the third quarter. According to China Eastern Airlines, in the third quarter of this year, the company saw a 105.83-percent increase in the number of passengers versus the second quarter, and the from the second quarter; the passenger load factor registered 74.43 percent, an increase of 9.14 percentage points from the second quarter.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the air transport industry to a standstill since the beginning of the year as many airlines had to ground flights. Civil Aviation Administration of China said that China's aviation industry suffered a 34.25-billion-yuan loss in the second quarter, slightly narrower than in the first quarter.

China's three major carriers still suffered losses in the first three quarters of the year, but signs of recovery emerged in the third quarter, according to the financial reports.

Air China said the global spread of the pandemic has severely hit the air transport industry. Since the third quarter, the domestic air passenger transport market has accelerated recovery, but the scale of passenger transport on international routes is still at a low level.