Hainan Airlines

Early years

Hainan Airlines was established in October 1989 as Hainan Province Airlines in Hainan, the largest special economy zone in China. Hainan Province Airlines became China's first joint-stock air-transport company following a restructuring in January 1993 and began scheduled services on 2 May 1993. The initial 250 million yuan (US$31.25 million) was financed by the Hainan government (5.33%) and the corporate staff (20%). The rest came from institutional shareholders. In 1996, the provincial airline was renamed Hainan Airlines.

American Aviation LLC, controlled by George Soros, had been a major shareholder of the airline since 1995.

Executive-jet operations with a Bombardier Learjet 55 were added in April 1995. In 1998, Hainan Airlines became the first Chinese carrier to own shares in an airport after it purchased 25% stake of Haikou Meilan International Airport.

Development since the 2000s

In 2000, HNA Group was established and became parent company of Hainan Airlines. It also controlled Shanxi Airlines, Chang An Airlines and China Xinhua Airlines. By 2003 Hainan, the main airline, overtook Chang'an as the fourth largest airline in China.

On 29 September 2005, HNA Group ordered 42 Boeing 787-8s, 10 of which were earmarked for the Hainan Airlines fleet. In January 2006, China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group Corporation ordered 10 Boeing 737–800s for Hainan Airlines. In September 2006, Hainan Airlines ordered another 15 Boeing 737-800s.

On 4 December 2007, Hainan Airlines acquired three Airbus A340-600s on lease from International Lease Finance Corporation. On 14 November 2007, Hainan Airlines received its first Airbus A330-200. In June 2007, Hainan Airlines ordered 13 Airbus A320-200 aircraft. In late 2007, Hainan Airlines ordered 50 Embraer ERJ-145s and 50 Embraer 190s, with a total value (at list price) of $2.7 billion USD. The 50-seat ERJ-145s were produced by the Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry (HEAI) joint venture, located in Harbin. E-190 deliveries began in December 2007. Due to the global financial crisis and huge losses incurred in 2008, the ERJ-145 order was reduced to 25. The E-190 order remained unchanged.

On 25 March 2015, HNA Group announced its intention to acquire 30 Boeing 787-9s, which are all to join the Hainan Airlines Fleet. The delivery of the aircraft is scheduled to be completed by 2021. Two leased Boeing 787-9 aircraft are due for delivery in Spring 2016.

Offices

Hainan Airlines and the HNA Group have their headquarters in the HNA Building (S: 新海航大厦, T: 新海航大廈, P: Xīn Hǎiháng Dàshà), in Haikou, Hainan. with other office premises HNA Tower in focused cities including Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. It was previously headquartered in the HNA Development Building a.k.a. the Haihang Development Building (S: 海航发展大厦, T: 海航發展大廈, P: Hǎiháng Fāzhǎn Dàshà) along Haixiu Road in Haikou.

Lounges

Hainan Airlines operates several self-owned airport lounges at its main hub and focus cities including Beijing (T1 HNA Exclusive Terminal), Haikou, Xi'an, Guangzhou and Urumqi. In addition, the airline will soon open its exclusive international departure lounge at its main international hub Beijing International Airport Terminal 2. The airline also operates an exclusive Transit Lounge for transferring HNA Group passengers at Beijing Airport Non-restricted area.

Frequent-flyer program

Hainan Airlines's frequent-flyer program is called Fortune Wings Club (simplified Chinese: 金鹏俱乐部; traditional Chinese: 金鵬俱樂部; pinyin: Jīn Péng Jùlèbù). The airlines's subsidiaries Hong Kong Airlines, Lucky Air, Tianjin Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines, Fuzhou Airlines and parent company Grand China Air are also parts of the program. It is also possible for passengers to collect miles on Air Berlin, Alaska Airlines, Etihad Airways and the airlines which have codeshares with Hainan Airlines. Members can earn miles on flights as well as through consumption with Hainan Airlines's credit card. When enough miles are collected, members can be upgraded to Elite members which are divided into two tiers: Fortune Wings Gold membership and Silver Card membership. Elite membership get extra services.

Accolades

Hainan Airlines is one of nine airlines worldwide, which are all based in Asia and the Middle East, rated as five-star by Skytrax, along with All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Garuda Indonesia, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines.

Destinations

As of January 2017, Hainan Airlines operates seven bases across China: Beijing–Capital, Guangzhou, Haikou, Hangzhou, Sanya, Shenzhen and Xi'an. It operates an extensive network across the People's Republic of China, connecting Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. It serves nearly 500 domestic and international routes and flies to more than 90 cities.

Hainan operates international regular flights and offers charter flights to 34 various destinations in 20 countries such as flights from Beijing to Almaty, Toronto, Berlin, Brussels, Seattle/Tacoma, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Boston; Beijing, Xi'an, Dalian, Guangzhou, Haikou to Taipei; Beijing, Haikou, Nanning to Bangkok; Hefei via Haikou to Singapore and others. Hainan also received official approval from the US DOT to begin nonstop flights between Beijing and Chicago. Starting in June 2014, Hainan began servicing Boston directly with a four-times-weekly 787 flight from Beijing Capital International Airport. It is the first direct flight between Boston and China. The airline plans to begin service in the second quarter of 2013 with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. It will become the first Chinese carrier to offer flights between the two cities. Flights from Beijing-Capital to Chicago-O'Hare began on September 3, 2013.

On October 23, 2015, Hainan announced two new routes. Flights to Birmingham, United Kingdom and Manchester, United Kingdom, starting in summer 2016. Hainan announced the launch of a direct route between Beijing and Calgary, Canada, starting June 30, 2016. During the second half of 2017 Hainan Airlines will restart flights from Shanghai to Brussels.

Codeshare agreements

Hainan Airlines codeshares with the following airlines:

Fleet

As of January 2017, the Hainan Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft: