Of all China’s struggling airlines, China Eastern is in the worst shape. It is widely expected to report multibillion-renminbi losses when it releases its annual report next week and without a Rmb7bn ($1.02bn) government bail-out it would probably have been forced to declare bankruptcy.

The huge losses cannot be blamed on falling passenger numbers because, according to China’s leading aviation regulator, the amount of seats sold actually grew last year, albeit at a far slower pace than a year earlier.