CHINA: Yangtze River Express Begins Passenger Flights From Shanghai Dec 2015

Chinese cargo carrier Yangtze River Express today (15DEC15) begins passenger operation, operating domestic service from Shanghai Pu Dong. Initially the airline operates Boeing 737 aircraft to Guiyang, Sanya and Zhuhai.

Shanghai Pu Dong – Guiyang
Y87509 PVG0750 – 1050KWE 737 D
Y87510 KWE1140 – 1400PVG 737 D

Shanghai Pu Dong – Sanya
Y87501 PVG1530 – 1905SYX 737 D
Y87502 SYX2055 – 0055+1PVG 737 D

Shanghai Pu Dong – Zhuhai
Y87503 PVG1600 – 1850ZUH 737 D
Y87504 ZUH1950 – 2205PVG 737 D

CHINA: Yangtze River Express Begins Passenger Flights From Shanghai Dec 2015

Chinese cargo carrier Yangtze River Express today (15DEC15) begins passenger operation, operating domestic service from Shanghai Pu Dong. Initially the airline operates Boeing 737 aircraft to Guiyang, Sanya and Zhuhai.

Shanghai Pu Dong – Guiyang
Y87509 PVG0750 – 1050KWE 737 D
Y87510 KWE1140 – 1400PVG 737 D

Shanghai Pu Dong – Sanya
Y87501 PVG1530 – 1905SYX 737 D
Y87502 SYX2055 – 0055+1PVG 737 D

Shanghai Pu Dong – Zhuhai
Y87503 PVG1600 – 1850ZUH 737 D
Y87504 ZUH1950 – 2205PVG 737 D

CHINA: China's HNA Group Acquires 23.7% Stake In Brazil's Azul

Hainan Airlines
Type: Scheduled Carrier
Base: Haikou
Aircraft: 162
Destinations: 85
Routes: 299
Daily Flights: 605

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD, Campinas Viracopos) and HNA Group have announced a strategic partnership wherein the Chinese conglomerate will acquire a 23.7% stake in the Brazilian carrier for USD450 million. As Azul's single largest shareholder, HNA will be able to appoint new members to the board of directors.

“HNA Group sees in Azul a solid investment with high growth potential. The USD450 million investment, considering Brazil’s current macroeconomic situation, demonstrates that we have a winning business model and that the HNA Group, as a large investor, has absolute confidence in Azul’s team," David Neeleman, CEO of Azul, said. "Moreover, this investment makes Azul the airline with the highest valuation in the Brazilian market, at more than BRL7.0 billion (USD1.87 billion).”

As part of the deal, the two firms will cooperate in the development of code sharing and new routes while expanding cooperation across their respective loyalty programs.

The partnership brings together two of the largest players in two of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world - China and Brazil. With a fleet of 145 aircraft, Azul is the largest airline in Brazil by network-size, offering more than 900 daily flights to more than 100 destinations. For its part, HNA Group owns China's fourth largest airline group in terms of fleet size with a total of 561 aircraft on the books of Hainan Airlines, Grand China Air, Tianjin Airlines, Lucky Air (China), West Air (China), and Yangtze River Express. It operates scheduled domestic and international service on more than 630 routes from locations throughout China as well as internationally. HNA Group's international portfolio includes stakes in myCargo Airlines (Turkey), Africa World Airlines (Ghana), Aigle Azur (France), and Comair (South Africa).

Bravia Capital and UBS Investment Bank served as financial advisor to HNA Group while Seabury Securities LLC, Seabury Group's investment banking unit, served as financial advisor to Azul.

Earlier this year, United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) acquired a 5% shareholding in Azul for USD100 million in a deal that also gave United Continental Holdings Inc a representative on Azul's board.

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.