BEIJING, Oct 27 Reuters Air China39;s Hong Konglisted shares rose almost 6 on Friday, their biggest jump in four months, after the flagship carrier reported its first quarterly profit in nearly four years.

Air China booked thirdquarter net profit of 4.24 billion yuan 579.48 million after market close on Thursday, versus a loss of 600 million yuan in the previous quarter and 8.67 billion yuan in the same period last year.

The profit, which brokerage Jefferies said followed 15 quarters of loss, also turned earnings positive for the nine months of this year with a profit of nearly 800 million yuan.

Increased passenger capacity, a stable currency and investment income contributed to the profit, Jefferies said in a client report on Friday.

Hopes are high in the industry that Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines  the big three state carriers can finally return to profit in the second half of 2023 after years of pandemicinduced loss.

On Friday, the aviation regulator said air passenger numbers in the third quarter reached 180 million, 2.6 higher than the prepandemic level in 2019, and a record for any quarter ever.

Li Hanming, an independent expert on Chinese aviation, said the number of international flights, especially to developed countries, is still markedly smaller than in 2019.

Those routes are the most lucrative, Li said.

Air China did not provide a breakdown of how domestic and international travel made up its revenue. Domestic travel…