China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd said net profit in the first half of the year fell 28.5 pct from a year ago to 41.62 mln yuan under Chinese accounting standards mainly due to rising jet fuel prices.

In its interim report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the airline said it carried 18.11 mln passengers in the first six months, down 1.23 pct year-on-year. Passenger load factor was down by 0.34 percentage point year-on-year to 71.11 pct.

For the first half, the Shanghai-based airline carried 449,860 tons of cargo, up 6.49 pct from a year earlier.

Operating revenue in the first six months rose 6.3 pct year-on-year to 20.83 bln yuan. Revenue from passenger traffic rose 3.27 pct to 18.06 bln yuan.

However, operating expenses were up 13.15 pct year-on-year to 19.73 bln yuan mainly because of higher jet fuel costs.

In the first six months, the airline's jet fuel costs stood at 8.657 bln yuan, up 22.84 pct year-on-year, accounting for 43.42 pct of its operating expenses.

Earnings per share were 0.0086 yuan, against 0.012 yuan a year earlier.

Under international accounting standards, China Eastern booked a net loss of 212.5 mln yuan in the January-June period. It did not give comparative data in its report to the Shanghai exchange.

Looking ahead, the airline said that weekend charter flights linking the China mainland with Taiwan will bring more opportunities for increased air traffic.

It also said it plans to introduce 16 aircraft to its fleet in the second half of the year, including three A330-300s, four A321s, seven A320s, one B737-700 and one B737-800.

China Eastern did not give a forecast for earnings for the rest of the year.

(1 usd = 6.85 yuan)