The earnings of China Southern Airlines' parent company skyrocketed to three billion yuan (US$414 million) last year thanks to its fast-growing business.

The country's largest carrier by fleet size said in a statement yesterday that its parent, China Southern Air Holding Co, earned three billion yuan in profit last year, much higher than the 200-million-yuan profit in 2006.

The earning is the highest in the company's history, Liu Shaoyong, general manager of the parent, said in an earlier report.

The carrier flew 57 million passengers last year, up 15.3 percent from the previous year, and its cargo volume reached 863,000 tons, a rise of 5.4 percent.

It launched 10 international routes from Guangzhou and eight domestic routes from Beijing last year to maintain its dominance in the domestic aviation market, the statement said.

China Southern operates about 1,300 flights with a fleet of more than 330 planes.

(Shanghai Daily January 16, 2008)