China Southern Airlines Company Limited (China Southern), the nation's largest carrier by transport capacity, said Thursday its third quarter net profit grew 970.77 percent year on year on the back of robust growth in domestic air travel.

In its unaudited third-quarter results filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, China Southern said its net profit surged to 3.04 billion yuan (US$440.6 million) in the quarter, compared to 284.1 million yuan in the same period last year.

Earnings per share jumped to 0.38 yuan from 0.04 yuan in the same period of 2009.

China Southern shares opened flat at 12.11 yuan in Shanghai Thursday while its Hong Kong-listed shares added 2.9 percent to 5.68 HK dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2010)