Air China, one of China’s three major state-owned carriers, announced Thursday that profits for the first-half were up by 60 percent when compared to the same time a year earlier.

The airline strongly believes the robust rebound is due to both passenger travel and cargo bouncing back from the global recession that has crippled the airline industry for the last 18-24 months.

For the first six months of 2010, Air China earned $675 million USD, up from the $426 million it made in the first half of 2009.

Revenue from passenger operations jumped 49 percent to $4.2 billion and cargo operations were up a healthy 127 percent to $658 million.

The airline told the Associated Press, “Operating results hit historical high and increased significantly as
compared with the same period last year.”

Air China believes the improvement of the global economy, China’s amazing growth and tourism due to Shanghai World Expo have all contributed to the spike in business.