Booming travel trade has boosted the profits of China Southern Airlines, the country's largest airline by passenger numbers, to 2.08 billion yuan (305.3 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year from only 38 million yuan a year earlier, the company said Monday.

It attributed the increase to China's strong economic growth. The country's economy rose 11.1 percent in the first six months of this year, compared with an increase of 7.1 percent during the same period one year ago.

China Southern Airlines flew 36.23 million passengers in the January-June period, up 17 percent year on year, a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said.

First-half-year revenue climbed 39.4 percent year on year to 34.68 billion yuan, the statement said.

Shares of the company inched up 0.79 percent to 7.66 yuan on the Shanghai bourse before the release of the statement.