Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited (referred to as “Capital Airport”) recently announced a performance forecast, expecting to incur losses in the previous year. This large state-owned enterprise under the Civil Aviation Administration of China has been experiencing substantial losses for five consecutive years.
According to the performance announcement released by Capital Airport on February 9, as of December 31, 2024, the company expects a year-on-year decrease of approximately 59.3% to 65.1% in pre-tax losses for 2024, with net losses ranging from around 1.35 billion to 1.65 billion yuan, representing a decrease of about 2.9% to 20.6% compared to the previous year.
Capital Airport explained the losses were mainly due to the inability to offset losses from deferred tax assets in previous years with sufficient taxable income before the expiration date.
Up to now, Capital Airport has recorded losses for a consecutive fifth year, with an estimated total loss exceeding 10 billion yuan over five years. The losses were 20.35 billion in 2020, 21.17 billion in 2021, 35.27 billion in 2022, and 16.97 billion in 2023.
Before the five years of losses, in 2019, the main operating income of Capital Airport was 10.81 billion yuan, with a net profit of 2.4 billion yuan, ranking second only to Shanghai Airport among domestic airports. Subsequently, in the following years, the performance of Capital Airport was affected by the epidemic.
China has experienced three years of epidemic control measures, causing severe damage to the economy and resulting in accumulated losses of nearly 400 billion yuan in the civil aviation industry. Even after the epidemic, China’s civil aviation industry continues to incur losses.
Public information shows that Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited is a large state-owned enterprise controlled by Capital Airport Group Limited and listed in Hong Kong.
Regarding the continuous losses of Beijing Capital Airport, current affairs commentator Wang He previously stated in an article that, firstly, the significant impact of the CCP’s “dynamic zero-COVID” policy on Capital Airport; secondly, Capital Airport Group, directly managed by the Civil Aviation Administration, has the highest level of bureaucratization, leading to the downfall of several high-ranking officials; and thirdly, the continuous losses of Capital Airport reflect the “north-south gap” in China’s economy.
For further reading: Wang He: The Behind-the-Scenes Continuous Losses of Beijing Capital Airport for Four and a Half Years.