China Eastern Airlines, the nation's third-largest carrier, said on Monday it would receive a government capital injection of 7 billion yuan (US$1.02 billion), up from the 3 billion yuan announced earlier this month.

In exchange for the capital, the airline would issue 1.44 billion new Shanghai-listed A shares to its State-owned parent group at 3.87 yuan each, as well as 1.44 billion Hong Kong-listed H shares at 1.00 yuan each.

Once receiving the injection, the debt-to-asset ratio of the company would decrease from 98.49 percent to 90.13 percent, said the airline.

China Eastern had a record 2.33 billion yuan loss in the third quarter of this year. It also reported a 1.83 billion yuan loss from fuel hedging as of October 31 after the price of jet fuel plunged 58 percent from a record within four months.

The airlines' H shares resumed trading on December 30.

Air China, the nation's flag carrier, is likely to receive a 9.5 billion yuan capital infusion from the government, Guangzhou Daily cited an unnamed source as saying.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines has already got a 3 billion yuan government cash injection.

(China Daily December 30, 2008)