The announcement that the Chinese HNA Group is investing US$450 million in Azul Airlines immediately becomes the largest single shareholder of the Brazilian company, entitled to sit on the board. Created on May 2, 1993, the HNA Group has assets valued at US$80 billion and is the 99th largest company in China, entering the Top Fortune 500 for the first time with operating revenues of US$26 billion (464º place in ranking).
Its fleet in early 2015 counted with 630 aircraft flying to more than 210 cities in China and abroad. The group annually carries 68 million passengers and operates, via its aviation division, companies like Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Deer Jet, Lucky Air, Capital Airlines, West Air, Fuzhou Airlines, Urumqi Air, Yangtze River Express, My Position, Africa World Airlines and Aigle Azur, among others.
The group also has the HNA Capital divisions (in finance and insurance), HNA Tourism (with 89 travel agencies, a luxury cruise company, Henna, the Transforex, foreign exchange, among other businesses), HNA Hospitality Group (with 440 hotels in China and abroad, the main brand Tangla Hotels and Resorts), HNA Airport Group (which manages eight airports, with flow of almost 40 million passengers), HNA Real Estate (real estate sector, operations in more than 40 cities), HNA Retailing (with department stores such as Xian Minsung , Supermarkets Joindoor and Shanghai Jiadeli and over 330 business), and HNA Logistics.
