Air Canada Q3 operating profit falls 12 percent

(Reuters) - Canada's largest carrier Air Canada reported a 12 percent drop in third-quarter operating income, hurt by higher fuel prices.

The airline's operating profit was C$270 million ($266.6 million), compared with C$306 million a year earlier.

Operating revenue rose 7 percent to C$3.24 billion.

Air Canada's net loss for the quarter was C$124 million, or 45 Canadian cents a share, compared with a net profit of C$317 million, or C$1.10 a share, in the same quarter last year, mainly due to foreign exchange losses.

On an adjusted basis, it earned 55 Canadian cents a share.

($1 = 1.013 Canadian Dollars)

(Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore and Allison Martell in Toronto; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)