China Earthquake

Credit Suisse on Thursday kept its overweight rating on the Chinese airline sector, saying the impact of the lingering political tensions between the mainland and Japan "can't yet be quantified." The routes from China to Japan are some of the most profitable for Chinese airlines, and China Eastern Airlines Corp. in particular had 5% of its total seats on those sectors, the brokerage said. "Several travel agents have suspended selling Japan packages, but the airlines are yet to see any notable decline in China-Japan bookings," Credit Suisse analysts led by Davin Wu noted in the report. "Instead of not flying, we believe Chinese tourists will be increasingly spending their holiday in other destinations, such as Korea, as they did after the earthquake in 2011," they added. China Eastern stock rose 1.7% in Hong Kong Thursday, while Air China Ltd. rose 1.1% and China Southern Airlines Co. gained 0.6%.Copyright © 2012 MarketWatch, Inc....

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