Asian airlines struggle with volatile oil prices

A major contributor to the large fuel-hedging losses suffered by Chinese and Taiwanese airlines for 2008 were collar strategies - the purchase of call options and simultaneous sale of put options. But some Asian carriers, such as Malaysia's Air Asia and Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, profited from their fuel hedges for last year.

Many Asian airlines, like their counterparts elsewhere, suffered substantial losses on hedges put on before the sharp oil price drop in December. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures price peaked at $147.27 a barrel on July 11, before falling to $45.59 by the end of the year. Swinging volatility continued in the first two weeks of January, with the price leaping from around $39 on January 1 to above $50 on January 6 and back down to $43 by January 12. The closing price was $41.23