CHINA: Hainan Airlines To Surrender Its Stake In Urumqi Air

Hainan Airlines, a carrier affiliated with conglomerate HNA Group, is planning to withdraw its holdings from low-cost airline Urumqi Air but retain management rights.

Hainan Airlines has reached an agreement with the Urumqi municipal government, that it will transfer its holdings of Urumqi Air to the latter.

After the transaction, the government or its designated subsidiaries will hold 70% of Urumqi Air’s shares, while HNA Holdings will hold 30%.

According to the agreement, the board of directors of Urumqi Airlines will be adjusted based on the shareholding ratio.

The chairman of the board of directors will be recommended by the government or its designated subsidiaries, while the general manager will be recommended by Hainan Airlines.

Under the leadership of the board of directors, the professional team of Haihang Holdings is responsible for the safety, production and operation management of Urumqi Air.

Urumqi Air is a low-cost airline headquartered in Urumqi, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It operates scheduled passenger services. Its main hub is Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi.

The airline is one of the four founding members of the U-FLY Alliance.

Urumqi Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:

- Boeing 737-800: 16 Aircraft

- Embraer 190: 1 Aircraft

- Total: 17 Aircraft


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CHINA: Hainan Airlines Parent To Buy Swissport

Hainan Airlines 5-Star cabin staff

HNA Group, owner of the Chinese 5-Star Airline, Hainan Airlines, has agreed to buy airport luggage handler Swissport International Ltd from PAI Partners SAS for USD $2.81 billion.

HNA will operate Swissport as a stand-alone business within the group. Swissport has approximately 60,000 employees, operating in 48 countries, and is the world´s largest ground and cargo handling company, providing service for about 224 million passengers and handles more than 4.1 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Under HNA ownership, Swissport will continue to expand its global footprint and continue to deliver the highest quality and value added services to existing and future customers. On announcement of the sale, Swissport Chairman Dr Thomas Staehelin commented: “We are pleased to become part of HNA Group and to continue to further strengthening our service offering and global network.”

Adam Tan, President of HNA Group, said: “HNA is excited to support Swissport’s world class management team as they continue to provide the highest quality service to the airline industry and their passengers. HNA is committed to Swissport’s future success in the global aviation market”.
About the HNA Group

HNA Group was founded in 1993, and is a Chinese conglomerate encompassing core divisions of aviation, holdings, capital, tourism and logistics, and has 11 listed companies.

In 2014, HNA Group had more than 110,000 employees worldwide, it is one of the Top 4 in China’s aviation industry, ranking the 120th in China Top 500 Enterprises, and HNA Group entered Fortune Global 500 in 2015 for the first Time, ranking No. 464 with annual revenue of approximately US $25.6 billion.

As at December 2014, HNA Aviation has a fleet of 528 aircraft, serving over 640 Chinese domestic and international routes, flying to over 250 cities, and carrying 72 million passengers annually.

It operates and manages Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Deer Jet, Lucky Air, Capital Airlines, West Air, Fuzhou Airlines, Urumqi Air, Yangtze River Express, My CARGO, Africa World Airlines, and Aigle Azur. The aviation division has been maintaining a high level of operation standard and quality. The flagship airline, Hainan Airlines, is a SKYTRAX 5-Star Airline.