Chinese airline stocks rose Wednesday after the country's top three carriers said they returned to the black in the third quarter, thanks to fuel hedging gains and a recovery in domestic air travel.

Air China's Hong Kong traded shares rose more than 3 percent to HKD$4.45, bucking a weak market, and its Shanghai shares gained 1.7 percent.

The country's flag carrier reported a net profit of CNY885.3 million yuan (USD$81 million) last quarter, reversing a restated loss of CNY1.97 billion a year ago.

"All three airlines did pretty good in the third quarter because of the healthy recovery of the air travel market," said Zhang Qi, an analyst with Orient Securities.

Domestic air traffic in China has resumed its normal growth pattern this year, as Beijing's aggressive economic stimulus lifted consumer confidence, after a slowing economy hit demand last year.

"Even volume on the international routes has improved steadily since the beginning of the year," Zhang said.

China Southern, which posted a CNY284 million profit in the third quarter against a loss of CNY830 million a year ago, was up about 2 percent in both Hong Kong and Shanghai.

China Eastern edged up 0.9 percent in Hong Kong and was up 1.3 percent in Shanghai. It posted a slight profit of CNY23.16 million but it was a marked improvement from a CNY2.3 billion loss a year ago.

The rises bucked a broader market trend that saw Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.11 percent, and the benchmark in Shanghai down 0.25 percent.