China Southern Airlines reported mixed operating metrics for May 2026, highlighting a soft domestic market alongside a continuing rebound in international services.

Passenger Operations • Capacity (ASK) slipped 2.85% year-on-year (YoY) to 29.93 billion seat-kilometres. Domestic and regional supply fell 7.64% and 6.35%, respectively, while international capacity expanded 10.55%. • Traffic (RPK) declined 4.20% YoY to 25.34 billion seat-kilometres. Domestic RPK contracted 8.84%, regional routes eased 0.53%, but international traffic rose 9.00%. • The consolidated passenger load factor eased 1.19 percentage points to 84.69%. Domestic and international load factors each retreated by just over 1 percentage point; regional routes improved 4.69 points to 80.02%.

Cargo Operations • Cargo capacity (ATK-Cargo & Mail) decreased 2.40% YoY to 1.53 billion tonne-kilometres. • Cargo and mail traffic (RTK-Cargo & Mail) was broadly stable at 0.85 billion tonne-kilometres, down 0.03% YoY. • The cargo and mail load factor improved 1.31 percentage points to 55.44%, supported by a 2.26% uptick in international RTK.

Cumulative Performance (Jan–May 2026) • Group RPK advanced 4.43% YoY to 137.98 billion, underpinned by a 14.63% surge in international traffic. • ASK gained 5.08% YoY to 162.33 billion, driving a marginal 0.53-point contraction in the five-month passenger load factor to 85.00%. • Total cargo and mail volume reached 0.79 million tonnes, up 1.18% YoY, with international growth of 5.47% offsetting domestic softness.

Fleet and Network Updates • Net fleet addition of three aircraft in May (five deliveries: two B737 MAX-8, two A321 NEO, one A320 NEO; two retirements: one B737-700, one B787-8) lifted the fleet to 969 aircraft. • New routes launched: Hangzhou–Manila (four weekly flights) and Chongqing–Manila (three weekly flights), strengthening regional connectivity.

Outlook Indicators • Despite resilient international demand, the month’s sequential decreases in RPK (-3.16% month-on-month) and ASK (-2.94% MoM) underscore lingering volatility in travel patterns. • The widening gap between domestic supply and demand, reflected in an 85.63% domestic load factor (-1.13 ppts YoY), will warrant capacity discipline, while improving cargo yields benefit from tighter load factors.

All figures are based on the company’s internal preliminary statistics and may be subject to adjustment in subsequent statutory disclosures.