Chinese aviation stocks dampened by Germanwings crash

Chinese aviation stocks opened lower on Wednesday following Tuesday's fatal crash by Germanwings flight 4U 9525.

By 10 a.m. local time (2 a.m. GMT), the board of aviation industry shares had dipped 2.19 percent as a whole after half an hour's trading.

Air China, the Chinese flag carrier, was hit hardest, decreasing 4.26 percent from the previous close of 9.86 yuan (1.61 U.S. dollars).

Stocks of Chinese carriers China Eastern, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines all retreated over 3 percent.

Shanghai-listed budget carrier Spring Airlines was down 3.316 percent.

An Airbus 320 plane operated by German budget airline Germanwings crashed in southern France on Tuesday while en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, killing all 150 people on board. Germanwings is a subsidiary of parent company Lufthansa.

Chinese stocks otherwise opened mixed on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 10.46 points, or 0.29 percent to open at 3,680.95.

The Shenzhen Component Index opened at 12,776, down 25.2 points or 0.2 percent.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, opened 6.97 points or 0.29 percent higher at 2,364.94 points.