China Southern Air plans 1.3 bln yuan cost cuts

SHANGHAI, July 17 (Reuters) - China Southern Airlines (600029.SS) (1055.HK), China's largest carrier by fleet size, said on Thursday it plans to cut operating costs by 1.3 billion yuan ($190.9 million) this year to cope with rising fuel costs, declining passenger volumes and other burdens.

It said fuel prices and other factors were set to boost its 2008 operating expenditure by 1.86 billion yuan.

It said it would achieve the savings by cutting 800 million yuan in planned investment on infrastructure and 500 million in other costs. (Reporting by Fang Yan; Writing by Edmund Klamann; Editing by Erica Billingham)