By Yifan Wang

Air China Ltd. said its operations improved slightly in June, with passenger traffic and flight capacity declines narrowing from earlier months.

The major Chinese airline operator's passenger traffic by revenue passenger kilometers fell 64.9% in June, compared with a year earlier. The extent of the traffic loss was better than the steepest drop of 81% in February, when the coronavirus pandemic was at its peak in China.

Passenger capacity by available seat kilometers dropped 57.9% in June from a year earlier. The metric has also been on a gradual recovery trend since April.

The rebound in June was driven by improving domestic travel, as passenger traffic on domestic routes only declined 41%, compared with the steep 84% slump in February.

However, passenger volume on international and Asian regional routes remained weak, with on-year reductions staying around 80%.

Air China warns of "severe impact" on its earnings for the first half of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic sharply cut demand for air travel. 



  Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com