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Grand China Air

Grand China Air is a Chinese airline based at Haikou Meilan International Airport.

History

Grand China Air was formed on 29 November 2007 under the initiative of the HNA group's largest operational entity, Hainan Airlines, to merge its operations with HNA Group's subsidiaries Shanxi Airlines, Chang An Airlines, and China Xinhua Airlines. The airline is headquartered in Beijing and registered in Hainan Province. As of 14 April 2012 only one of its 737-800s have been fitted with winglets.

Grand China Air was owned by 23 shareholders. The top 5 shareholders were Hainan Development Holdings (24.97%), HNA Group (23.11%), Starstep (9.57%), Haikou Meilan International Airport (8.30%) and Shenhua Group (5.56%). It was reported that George Soros was a minority shareholder[2][3] It was reported that Starstep was still owned by Soros. Former associate of Soros, Bharat Bhisé, via Pan-American Aviation Holdings,[4] owned 4.00% stake of Grand China Air as the 8th largest shareholder (in 2015 Pan-American was acquired by Jun Guan);[5][6] Pan-American Aviation Holdings was a minority shareholder of HNA Group indirectly.[7]

U.S. sanctions

In January 2021, the United States government named Grand China Air as a company "owned or controlled" by the People's Liberation Army and thereby prohibited any American company or individual from investing in it.[8]

Destinations

Grand China Air will serve the same destinations as Hainan Airlines.

Fleet

Current fleet

As of August 2025, Grand China Air operates an all-Boeing 737-800 fleet composed of the following aircraft:[9]

Former fleet

The airline previously operated the following aircraft (as of August 2018):[10]

  • Boeing 737-300

External links

References

  1. "Designators and Indicators ", Eurocontrol, retrieved on 2008-11-13.^
  2. Leo Zhang, "It's plane and simple: China has Grand plan", Shanghai Daily, 2007-11-30. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.^
  3. Hainan Airlines Announces Grand China Airline's Opening, China Hospitality News, 2007-12-03. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.^
  4. Pan American Holdings to Invest Up to $100 Million in Newly Established Grand China Airlines; Letter of Intent Signed in Haikou, China, on April 1, 2006 businesswire, 5 April 2006, retrieved 23 February 2017^
  5. 2015 Annual Report AID Partners Capital Holdings, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, 30 March 2016, retrieved 23 February 2017^
  6. Public Tender Offer by HNA Aviation (Hong Kong) Air Catering Holding Co., Ltd., Hong Kong for all publicly held registered shares with a nominal value of CHF 5.00 each of gategroup Holding Ltd, Kloten, Switzerland HNA Group, 19 May 2016, retrieved 23 February 2017^
  7. 简式权益变动报告书 Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Stock Exchange, 7 September 2016, retrieved 23 February 2017^
  8. Mike Stone, Alexandra Alper, David Brunnstrom. Trump administration takes final swipes at China and its companies Reuters, 2021-01-14, retrieved 2021-01-14^
  9. Global Airline Guide 2025 - Grand China Air Airliner World, September 2025^
  10. Global Airline Guide 2018 (Part One) Airliner World^