Air China July passenger volume down for 3rd month

SHANGHAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Air China's (601111.SS) (0753.HK) passenger volume fell for a third straight month in July, hit in part by strict airport safety checks in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games.

Air China, the country's flag carrier, also saw a 58.05 percent year-on-year jump in its average jet fuel purchase price last month, it said in a statement over the weekend.

The carrier handled 2.98 million passengers in July, down 6.8 percent from a year earlier. Passenger volume on international routes fell 19.4 percent to 435,900, with volume on domestic service down 3.5 percent to 2.48 million, it said.

A devastating earthquake in southwest China in May, which led to the cancellation of conferences and other events, was also blamed for weak passenger traffic over the past three months, which broke the industry's steady record of growth in China's economic boom.

China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) (0670.HK) and China Southern Airlines (600029.SS) (1055.HK), the other two of China's three major carriers, have yet to release July traffic data. Both reported a slip in passenger volume in May and June.

Industry executives have said monthly air traffic data was likely to rebound in September, when airport security checks return to normal.

Air China said it purchased 254,000 tonnes of jet fuel in July at 9,075 yuan ($1,321) per tonne.

To help mitigate the impact of higher fuel costs, Air China and other Chinese carriers hiked jet fuel surcharges on domestic routes by as much as 50 percent from July 1. (For details please click [ID:nSHA264466])

They also raised the surcharge on long-haul international flights by 37.5 percent to 1,100 yuan effective on July 10, while the surcharge on short to medium-haul flights rose 31 percent to 550 yuan. ($1=6.869 Yuan) (Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)