Hainan Airlines Co. Ltd., is an airline headquartered in Haikou on the island of Hainan in the South China Sea, People's Republic of China. It is the largest civilian-run and majority state-owned air transport company, making it the fourth-largest airline in terms of fleet size in the People's Republic of China, and tenth-largest airline in Asia in terms of passengers carried. It operates scheduled domestic and international services on 500 routes, as well as charter services. Its main base is Haikou Meilan International Airport, with hubs at Beijing Capital International Airport and Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.
Hainan Airlines was established in October 1989 as Hainan Province Airlines in Hainan, the largest special economic zone in China. It 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. American Aviation LLC, controlled by George Soros, had been a major shareholder of the airline since 1995. In 1996, the provincial airline was renamed Hainan Airlines.
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 a 25% stake of Haikou Meilan International Airport. Deer Jet Airlines (established 1995) and Capital Airlines (established 2010) are subsidiaries of Hainan Airlines.
Hainan Airlines was member of the New Star Air Alliance.
Livery
Boeing 737-84P(WL), registration B-5540, built 2010, serial number 35761 Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN), Xiamen, China, 31 October 2019
