Air China made a net profit of 4.9 billion yuan ($789 million) for the year ended December, under Chinese accounting standards.
According to international accounting standards, the company posted a 34.5 percent drop in net profit to 4.6 billion yuan, which would be the lowest since 2008.
That still beat an average forecast of 4.0 billion yuan from 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S and compared with a 7.08 billion yuan profit in 2011.
The operating environment remained challenging for global passenger and cargo markets, while domestic pasenger demand was expected to pick up gradually, analysts said.
Earlier this month, Air China ordered 31 new aircraft from Boeing worth about $4.8 billion in catalogue price to meet future demand growth. (Reuters)
