UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 6-K

 

 

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16

under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the month of September 2021

Commission File Number: 001-14550

 

 

China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

 

 

Board Secretariat’s Office

5/F, Block A2, Northern District, CEA Building

36 Hongxiang 3rd Road, Minhang District

Shanghai, China 200335

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:  ☒ Form 20-F  ☐ Form 40-F

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):  ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:    ☐  Yes    ☒  No

If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b):     n/a 

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

      China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited
                  (Registrant)
Date  

September 17, 2021

     By  

/s/ Wang Jian

        Name: Wang Jian
        Title: Company Secretary

 

2

Certain statements contained in this announcement may be regarded as “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual performance, financial condition or results of operations of the Company to be materially different from any future performance, financial condition or results of operations implied by such forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these risks, uncertainties and other factors is included in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this announcement represent the Company’s views as of the date of this announcement. While the Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause the Company’s views to change, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, unless required by applicable laws. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this announcement.

 

3

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

 

 

LOGO

(Stock code: 00670)

INSIDE INFORMATION

OVERSEAS REGULATORY ANNOUNCEMENT

ANNOUNCEMENT ON

OPERATING DATA FOR AUGUST 2021

 

This overseas regulatory announcement is made pursuant to Rule 13.09 and Rule 13.10B of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Listing Rules”) and the Inside Information Provisions (as defined under the Listing Rules) under Part XIVA of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong).

China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (the “Company”) and all members of the board of directors confirm that the information contained in this announcement is true, accurate and complete, and no misrepresentations, misleading statements or material omissions are contained herein.

 

I.

OPERATIONS

In August 2021, the Company’s passenger transportation capacity (measured by available seat- kilometres) decreased by 41.79% year-on-year, among which, the passenger transportation capacity of its domestic and international routes decreased by 42.72% and 15.00% year- on-year, respectively, while the passenger transportation capacity of its regional routes increased by 79.54% year-on-year; passenger traffic volume (measured by revenue passenger- kilometres) decreased by 55.70% year-on-year, among which, the passenger traffic volume of its domestic routes decreased by 56.87% year-on-year, while the passenger traffic volume of its international and regional routes increased by 0.27% and 143.95% year-on- year, respectively; and passenger load factor decreased by 17.52 percentage points year-on- year to 55.83%, among which, the passenger load factor of its domestic routes decreased by 18.29 percentage points year-on-year, while the passenger load factor of its international and regional routes increased by 9.26 and 10.78 percentage points year-on-year, respectively.

 

4

In relation to freight transportation, the freight transportation business of the Company includes passenger aircraft cargo business under conventional circumstances (mainly passenger aircraft bellyhold space business) and passenger aircraft cargo business under unconventional circumstances (mainly “Passenger-to-Cargo Conversion” business), and such business is under exclusive operation by China Cargo Airlines Co., Ltd. In August 2021, freight traffic volume decreased by 6.32% year-on-year.

In August 2021, the Company did not launch new passenger transportation routes.

 

II.

FLEET STRUCTURE

In August 2021, the Company introduced one A320NEO aircraft and one ARJ21 aircraft and retired one A320 aircraft and one B737-700 aircraft. As of the end of August 2021, the Company operated a total of 743 aircraft, including 287 self-owned aircraft, 266 aircraft under finance lease and 190 aircraft under operating lease.

Details of the fleet structure were as follows:

 

                               (Units)
No.    Model    Self-owned     

Under
finance

lease

     

Under
operating

lease

      Sub-total
   Wide-body passenger aircraft      44        47        5      96
1    B777 series      10        10        0      20
2    B787 series      3        7        0      10
3    A350 series      1        9        0      10
4    A330 series      30        21        5      56
   Narrow-body passenger aircraft      241        215        185      641
5    A320 series      139        142        70      351
6    B737 series      102        73        115      290
   Regional aircraft      2        4        0      6
7    ARJ series      2        4        0      6
   Total      287        266        190      743

 

Note:

The nine business aircraft of the Company were not included in the above fleet structure.

 

5

III.

MAJOR OPERATING DATA

 

     Amount
completed in
August 2021		      Amount
completed in
August 2020		      Year-on-
year
increase		     

Total
amount
completed

from

January
to August

in 2021

     

Total
amount
completed

from

January
to August
in 2020

      Year-on-
year
increase		  

Passenger Transportation Data ASK (available seat- kilometres) (millions)

      9,002.67        15,466.68        -41.79%        111,267.05        90,648.89        22.75%  

— Domestic routes

      8,616.60        15,044.02        -42.72%        108,012.45        75,040.56        43.94%  

— International routes

      335.17        394.32        -15.00%        2,767.54        14,888.69        -81.41%  

— Regional routes

      50.90        28.35        79.54%        487.06        719.63        -32.32%  

RPK (revenue passenger- kilometres) (millions)

      5,026.23        11,345.44        -55.70%        78,085.16        62,318.58        25.30%  

— Domestic routes

      4,801.58        11,133.59        -56.87%        76,655.93        51,997.44        47.42%  

— International routes

      203.89        203.34        0.27%        1,154.51        9,932.60        -88.38%  

— Regional routes

      20.76        8.51        143.95%        274.72        388.54        -29.29%  

Number of passengers carried (thousands)

      3,557.98        8,564.52        -58.46%        56,676.86        41,599.28        36.24%  

— Domestic routes

      3,517.81        8,525.84        -58.74%        56,314.45        39,163.81        43.79%  

— International routes

      25.79        30.90        -16.54%        180.10        2,135.88        -91.57%  

— Regional routes

      14.37        7.78        84.70%        182.31        299.59        -39.15%  

Passenger load factor (%)

      55.83        73.35        -17.52pts        70.18        68.75        1.43pts  

— Domestic routes

      55.72        74.01        -18.29pts        70.97        69.29        1.68pts  

— International routes

      60.83        51.57        9.26pts        41.72        66.71        -24.99pts  

— Regional routes

      40.78        30.00        10.78pts        56.40        53.99        2.41pts  

Freight Transportation Data AFTK (available freight tonne- kilometres) (millions)

      353.65        602.44        -41.30%        6,204.98        4,134.79        50.07%  

— Domestic routes

      128.40        298.22        -56.94%        2,183.53        1,355.81        61.05%  

— International routes

      223.00        302.38        -26.25%        3,988.89        2,746.72        45.22%  

— Regional routes

      2.25        1.84        22.28%        32.56        32.26        0.93%  

 

6

     Amount
completed in
August 2021		      Amount
completed in
August 2020		      Year-on-
year
increase		     

Total
amount
completed

from

January
to August

in 2021

     

Total
amount
completed

from

January
to August

in 2020

      Year-on-
year
increase		  

RFTK (revenue freight tonne-kilometres) (millions)

      165.06        170.17        -3.00%        2,250.23        1,332.74        68.84%  

— Domestic routes

      62.40        66.01        -5.47%        552.90        433.09        27.66%  

— International routes

      102.00        103.50        -1.45%        1,690.73        892.73        89.39%  

— Regional routes

      0.66        0.66        0.00%        6.59        6.92        -4.77%  

Weight of freight carried (million kg)

      55.00        58.71        -6.32%        590.65        412.00        43.36%  

— Domestic routes

      41.59        46.66        -10.87%        380.32        301.99        25.94%  

— International routes

      12.74        11.41        11.66%        203.70        103.57        96.68%  

— Regional routes

      0.67        0.64        4.69%        6.63        6.45        2.79%  

Freight load factor (%)

      46.67        28.25        18.42pts        36.26        32.23        4.03pts  

— Domestic routes

      48.60        22.13        26.47pts        25.32        31.94        -6.62pts  

— International routes

      45.74        34.23        11.51pts        42.39        32.50        9.89pts  

— Regional routes

      29.50        35.84        -6.34pts        20.24        21.44        -1.20pts  

Consolidated Data ATK (available tonne-kilometres) (millions)

      1,163.89        1,994.44        -41.64%        16,219.01        12,293.19        31.93%  

— Domestic routes

      903.89        1,652.18        -45.29%        11,904.65        8,109.46        46.80%  

— International routes

      253.17        337.87        -25.07%        4,237.96        4,086.70        3.70%  

— Regional routes

      6.83        4.39        55.58%        76.40        97.03        -21.26%  

RTK (revenue tonne-kilometres) (millions)

      604.01        1,164.36        -48.13%        9,158.07        6,815.30        34.38%  

— Domestic routes

      481.44        1,041.49        -53.77%        7,334.23        5,016.06        46.21%  

— International routes

      120.11        121.45        -1.10%        1,793.19        1,758.33        1.98%  

— Regional routes

      2.46        1.41        74.47%        30.66        40.91        -25.06%  

Overall load factor (%)

      51.90        58.38        -6.48pts        56.47        55.44        1.03pts  

— Domestic routes

      53.26        63.04        -9.78pts        61.61        61.85        -0.24pts  

— International routes

      47.44        35.95        11.49pts        42.31        43.03        -0.72pts  

— Regional routes

      35.98        32.08        3.90pts        40.13        42.16        -2.03pts  

 

Note:

Freight transportation data only contained data of passenger aircraft bellyhold space and Passenger-to-Cargo Conversion. The table does not contain data of the fleet of all-cargo aircraft.

 

7

IV.

RISK ALERT

The board of directors of the Company hereby reminds investors that the operating data set forth above was compiled in accordance with the Company’s internal information which has not been audited and may be subject to adjustment. The operating data set forth above may differ from the data disclosed in any regular report for the relevant period. The Company reserves its rights to adjust the operating data based on audit findings and the actual situation. The monthly operating data disclosed by the Company only serves as preliminary and periodical data for investors’ reference. Investors are hereby reminded of the investment risks which may result from inappropriate reliance upon or utilisation of the information above.

With the changes in novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic situation, the COVID-19 variant strain becomes more infectious. Since mid-May 2021, there were fluctuating cases of COVID-19 occurred successively in various parts of China. The COVID-19 pandemic still has a significant impact on the air transportation business of the Company, while the time span and severity of which has great uncertainty. Investors are reminded of the risks thereof.

The data set forth above is published on the website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (www.sse.com.cn), the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (www.hkex.com.hk) and the column “Investor Relations” on the website of the Company (www.ceair.com).

 

   By order of the Board
   CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED
   Wang Jian
   Company Secretary
   Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China
   16 September 2021

As at the date of this announcement, the directors of the Company include Liu Shaoyong (Chairman), Li Yangmin (Vice Chairman, President), Tang Bing (Director), Lin Wanli (Director), Cai Hongping (Independent non-executive Director), Dong Xuebo (Independent non-executive Director), Sun Zheng (Independent non-executive Director), Lu Xiongwen (Independent non- executive Director) and Jiang Jiang (Employee Representative Director).

 

8