China’s Hainan Airlines plans to buy 19 planes for about $4.2bn, expanding its fleet to 257 aircraft as its parent company HNA Group pushes aggressively into airline services, airports and hospitality.
The company said in a regulatory filing that the order would be funded in part by the issuance of a Rmb15bn ($2.2bn) bond and that the addition to its fleet was expected to grow its annual revenue by Rmb5.1bn while also helping it increase its air travel routes.
HNA Group has been one of China’s most acquisitive groups in recent years, spending at least $40bn over the past 30 months on acquisitions such as a 25 per cent stake in the hotel group Hilton Worldwide and the buyout of the world’s largest software distributor Ingram Mirco.