China Eastern Airlines, one of the country’s big three carriers, returned to profitability in the first half because of fuel-hedging gains, in spite of a fall of almost 16 per cent in revenue.

The carrier, which last month announced its plan to acquire rival Shanghai Airlines for just under Rmb9bn ($1.3bn), said strong economic growth in China would boost the aviation market this year and that it would benefit from the World Expo to be held in Shanghai next year.