HNA expected to strengthen its aviation business: official

As a “gilded signboard” of South China’s Hainan Province’s reform and opening-up, HNA Group is expected to focus on its main business of aviation and further strengthen it in the future, local newspaper Hainan Daily reported on Monday, citing an official.

Reflecting on the 25 years of HNA Group’s development, it can be said that the group started out in the aviation industry and relied on the sector to grow, said Mao Chaofeng, executive vice governor of Hainan Province.

The company will still focus on the aviation sector as it aspires to become a world-class enterprise and further makes its aviation business bigger and stronger, Mao said during his visit to the company’s headquarters on Sunday, the report said.

Mao also noted that Hainan was reborn thanks to the country’s nationwide reform and opening-up and that the island province was promoted through the economic transformation process, according to the report.

As a local enterprise, HNA Group is expected to grasp opportunities and actively be devoted to building Hainan’s free trade zone (FTZ), Mao was quoted as saying.

This is in line with an announcement from the central government, which in April said it would support Hainan in becoming a pilot FTZ.

Mao said that HNA is expected to continue stressing the importance of safety and that the local government has confidence in the company’s growth.

HNA Chairman Chen Feng said that HNA now has a fleet of 613 aircraft and has successfully launched 1,050 domestic and international routes so far, according to the report.

HNA Group on Friday made cofounder Chen its sole chairman after former chairman Wang Jian died last week in a tragic accident while on a business trip in France, according to information on its website.