Air China, the country's national flag carrier, is expecting profits in the first half of this year, an unidentified official of the company told Xinhua over the weekend.

The company's profits in the first half were a result of its strategy to reduce costs, said the official, who declined to be identified, without elaboration.

The official also did not give specific figures of the profits.

The company is scheduled to release its first-half report on Aug. 26.

As one of the three major airlines in China, Air China posted a loss of 9.15 billion yuan (about 1.34 billion U.S. dollars) in 2008.

But it enjoyed a business recovering to report a net profit of 981 million yuan in the first quarter.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2009)