TOKYO -- China's three major state-owned airlines are counting more on overseas demand to lift them out of poor financial performance, echoing Chinese companies in other industries that are attempting to offset severe domestic competition and a sluggish economy.

Wang Zhiqing, chairman of China Eastern Airlines, said Tuesday that the carrier has been aggressively adding international destinations to mitigate the negative impact of high fuel prices and intense competition in the domestic market. He told retail investors during an online text exchange session that the Shanghai-based carrier has been "stepping up global expansion," launching or resuming 18 international routes this year.

At least five of the moves came in the third quarter, including new routes linking China Eastern's main international hub of Shanghai Pudong Airport with the Georgian and Irish capitals of Tbilisi and Dublin, along with the central South Korean city of Cheongju. It also restored a connection between the ancient capital of Xi'an and Incheon, South Korea.

On top of the new and resurrected routes, the airline added more flights on at least a dozen international routes during the July-September period. They include various Asian and European destinations such as Bali, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City, St. Petersburg, London Gatwick and Frankfurt.

China Eastern reported last week that its net profit for the third quarter came to 64 million yuan ($9.6 million), dropping by 98% year on year. For the first nine months of 2026, it recorded a net loss of 2.1 billion yuan.

The company is not alone among the state-owned trio. Air China's net profit for the third quarter plunged by 93% on the year to 270 million yuan, with a net loss of 2 billion yuan for the nine-month period. China Southern Airlines, the largest of the three in terms of revenue and fleet size, lost 609 million yuan for the third quarter, bringing its losses across the first three quarters to 4.3 billion yuan. An Air China plane in Beijing: The country's state carriers are struggling.

All three blamed higher fuel prices due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as the main culprit. Li Ganbin, China Eastern's board secretary, said in the same session with his boss Wang that the airline also suffered from "pressures caused by [depressed] domestic ticket prices." This was especially the case during the peak travel season of July and August, when he said "the momentum of financial improvement for international demand was even more salient." Revenue for the summer quarter at each of the three carriers increased between 2% and 8% to a range of 42 billion yuan to 52 billion yuan, mainly led by growth in international services.

When asked at a separate online session on Monday how China Southern would escape deep losses, Mao Juan, general manager of the finance department, vowed to "continuously increase transport volume and market shares" with a focus on "proactively expanding international routes." Xiao Yong, deputy head of the airline's sales management committee, pointed out that the Guangzhou-based carrier has three factors in mind when opening new international routes. They need to "meet national strategic goals," namely by focusing on countries involved in China's Belt and Road Initiative enable flexible operations, allowing for changes in aircraft and frequencies based on real passenger flows; and cater to the strengthening of its network strategy.

Xiao emphasized emerging markets, such as destinations in central and western Asia and Africa. China Southern opened a route connecting Guangzhou, Changsha and the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa last month.

Air China, the country's flag carrier, has also been adding new international flights, such as a route connecting Beijing Capital Airport with Bucharest and Zagreb in September.

Executives acknowledged that relentless price wars, known in China as involution, are a key motivation for the global push.

Xiao Feng, Air China's board secretary, said in its online investor meeting last Friday that "involution remains as ever, where the volume is growing but prices are falling in the domestic market."

Given the situation, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued a policy directive to optimize domestic routes in early October, telling carriers to "thoroughly rectify involutionary competition." When asked whether this had an effect, Xiao replied, "To a certain extent." While the carriers' international drives offer hope for overcoming the pressure, they are hindered by continued cuts in their flights to Japan, since bilateral relations hit a serious snag following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on a Taiwan contingency last November. Unilateral sanctions by Beijing have been renewed under the current fall-winter schedule, taking away a key revenue source for the airlines.

At the same time, a lack of open skies arrangements with the U.S., amid Beijing's rivalry with Washington, means direct flights connecting the world's two largest economies are limited. These missed opportunities result in gains for Chinese carriers' regional and global competitors.