Announcing interim results on Wednesday that showed the airline in the black after huge losses in the first half of last year, Chairman John Slosar warned of further impact on the business in response to the unrest and the global trade tensions.

"Geopolitical and trade tensions are expected to continue to affect the global economy and, in turn, demand for air travel and air freight," he said. 

"The protests in Hong Kong reduced inbound passenger traffic in July and are adversely impacting forward bookings," Slosar added.

The previously troubled airline reported first-half earnings of 1.35 billion Hong Kong dollars ($172m), compared with a loss of 263 billion Hong Kong dollars ($33.5bn) in the same period last year.

Despite the uncertainty, Slosar said he still expects to achieve even better results in the second half of the year, as is usual in the aviation industry.