United Airlines parent's shares down after backlash in China

REUTERS - Shares of United Airlines parent United Continental Holdings Inc fell, after a passenger who appeared to be Asian was physically dragged off a flight on Sunday, prompting a backlash on Chinese social media on Tuesday.

United Airlines' decision to drag the passenger off a flight from Chicago to Louisville on Sunday attracted more than 130 million views on its Weibo platform by Tuesday afternoon.

The company got about 14 percent of its 2016 revenue from flying Pacific routes.

United Airlines also raised its flight capacity forecast for the first quarter, citing an improvement in mainline completion factor - a measure of the number of completed flights relative to the number of flights scheduled.

Last year, U.S. airlines saw a decline in unit revenue, a closely watched measure, due to higher capacity and lower fares.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)