An airline stewardess heads toward a departure gate at Chek Lap Kok airport March 7, 2003, in Hong Kong. (Photo : Getty Images)
Hainan Airlines Co Ltd, China's largest airline and a subsidiary of conglomerate HNA Group, has completed the purchase of nearly a quarter stake in Azul SA, Brazil's third-largest airline, for $450 million, in a series of overseas acquisitions by the company.
The deal, which was first announced to the public in November, gives Hainan Airlines a 23.7 percent stake in Azul, making the Chinese subsidiary the Brazilian firm's single largest shareholder, the China Daily newspaper reported on Monday citing a statement from the company.
Under the deal, Hainan Airlines will appoint three new members to Azul's board of directors, and both sides have agreed to launch more cooperation in code sharing, frequent flier programs, marketing programs, and cargo handling, the statement said.
"We view Azul as a strong and lasting partner for HNA to explore further expansion and capital investment in Latin America," Adam Tan, CEO of Hainan Airlines' parent HNA Group, said in the statement.
HNA said both airlines will benefit from the growing passenger between China and Brazil. Around 3,000 Chinese tourists are expected to travel to Rio de Janeiro for this year's Olympic Games, ten times the number of tourists over the same period last year.
"In addition to bringing more choice and convenience to customers of Hainan Airlinestraveling to and from Brazil, we view Azul as a strong and lasting partner for HNA to explore further expansion and capital investment in Latin America," Tan said.
"We look forward to working together to create a seamless travel experience between LatinAmerica and China and to deliver further choice, value and excellence to worldwide travelersthrough our future cooperation."
Established in 2008, Azul has been rated as one of the best low-cost airlines in Latin America with more than 800 daily flights to more than 100 destinations.
"This investment demonstrates that we have a winning business model and that Hainan Airlines, as a large investor, has absolute confidence in Azul's team," said Azul founder and CEO David Neeleman.
HNA's purchase of a stake in Azul comes after its announcement to buy a 13 percent stake in the carrier Virgin Australia in May earlier this year.
In the same month, the company said it was taking a share of TAP, Portugal's national airline.
In July, HNA said its $1.5 billion offer for Swiss airline caterer gategroup has been successful.
