ZHUHAI (China) - CHINESE airlines need to be prepared for a 'cold winter' of slowing passenger demand and prudent about buying new aircraft, a senior Air China official said on Monday.

He Li, vice president of the state-owned flagship carrier, said the industry must adjust its expansion plans in light of a global slowdown in demand for air travel.

'Airlines need to get prepared for passing the cold winter,' he told a conference ahead of the China Airshow 2008, which starts in the south Chinese city of Zhuhai on Tuesday.

'In 2008, the domestic aviation market has (experienced) fluctuations, even a slowdown, but aircraft numbers kept growing,' he said.

As a result of the global slowdown, airlines needed to adjust the growth of their fleet and improve the utilisation of their existing planes, he said.

He said that Air China was already 'prudent' in its attitude to increasing its number of planes from 220. But he added that long-term growth prospects for the industry in China remained good.

He said that China's strong economic growth had resulted in annual growth in passenger numbers of more than 16 percent between 2000 and 2007, but experts have warned the demand could slow to single figures.

His call came as the global aerospace industry gathered in Zhuhai, hopeful that China's aviation sector can continue to boom and offset much of the fall-off in demand that has hit airlines during the ongoing financial turmoil.

Air China has suffered a dismal year with natural disasters, visa restrictions due to pre-Olympic security concerns and high oil prices hitting its bottom line.

Last week, it reported a net loss of 1.94 billion yuan (S$416.3 million) for the third quarter, compared with a 2.2 billion yuan net profit a year earlier, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. -- AFP