(Yicai Global) April 27 -- Air China’s shares rose after the nation’s flag carrier narrowed its first-quarter loss by more than 67 percent from a year earlier as revenue almost doubled.

Air China [SHA: 601111] finished 1.7 percent higher at CNY10.54 (USD1.51) a share in Shanghai today, giving the airline a market capitalization of about CNY151 billion (USD21.8 billion).

The net loss was CNY2.9 billion (USD443 million) in the three months ended March 31, versus CNY8.9 billion a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said yesterday. Revenue was CNY25.1 billion (USD3.6 billion).

Air China had the highest losses among Chinese airlines in the past three years because most of its revenue came from international routes, which were badly upended by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of the year, air travel has seen a rapid recovery thanks to changes to Covid-19 prevention policies, but the slower-than-expected rebound in international routes directly affected Air China’s performance.

Domestic air traffic is recovering as fares are higher than in 2019, Air China said at a recent event, adding that its domestic revenue has almost recovered to the pre-pandemic level.

But the number of overseas flights in the first quarter was just 15 percent of the same period in 2019, Air China pointed out. The figure should rise to 70 percent by the end of the year, it added.

Between April 10 and 16, the number of international passenger flights operated by Chinese carriers resumed to 29.4 percent of the pre-pandemic level, with the figure increasing five-fold from the week ended Jan. 8, before China relaxed its Covid-19 policies, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration.

First-quarter earnings rebounded, but Chinese airlines have not yet returned to the black, the China Air Transport Association said. The total net loss in the first three months of the year reached tens of billions of Chinese yuan, equivalent to billions of US dollars, Yicai Global calculated.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione