Keeping the world's planes airworthy

HNA Aviation Technic finesses the art of on-demand aircraft maintenance services

HNA Group, owner of Hainan Airlines and Swiss airline caterer Gategroup Holding AG, plans to establish more aircraft maintenance facilities throughout the world.

The plan is to introduce its services to major global cities over the next five years.

Other measures include recruiting more foreign talent, infusing flight crew uniforms with more Chinese elements, equipping the C-919 aircraft with necessary cabin requirements, and tightening safety standards and employee training programs.

The C-919 is China's first homebuilt large passenger plane.

HNA will do all that to promote the group's aviation business globally in the long run.

Cao Fenggang, chairman of HNA Aviation Technic Co, which is responsible for the group's aircraft maintenance, aviation parts and spray services, says overseas branches are in good health.

HNA's international air network is also growing to compete with other established foreign players.

Supported by more than 7,500 employees, HNA Aviation Technic currently provides aircraft support services at more than 200 service stations and operates 30 bases around the world.

"Where HNA's airplanes fly, we serve there," Cao says.

Besides in-house business from HNA, Technic explores external market opportunities. Domestic players such as Air China and China Eastern Airlines are its clients for aircraft maintenance, parts and support.

Although an HNA subsidiary, Technic has already established its own systems to ensure its clients' safe operations with high efficiency.

In order to meet the demands of overseas operations, HNA Technic set up its international teams, Cao says.

For example, a team of over 100 technicians specialize in aircraft on ground and work toward preventing any problem that could potentially prevent an aircraft from becoming airborne.

They have visas for almost 40 countries and can arrive at any spot, wherever the client needs, in a short time, Cao says.

Pu Ming, vice-president of Hainan Airlines Holding Co, says the company will start more direct flights between second-tier Chinese cities and top-tier foreign cities, as well as first-tier Chinese cities and second-tier foreign cities, given the significant demand for international travel in China.

"As a corporate participant in the Belt and Road Initiative, we will focus on developing new air routes between China and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This year, we will introduce flights connecting Beijing with Belgrade via Prague, and Shenzhen with two Australian cities," says Pu.

Chinese tourists made 109 million outbound trips in 2016, up by 11 percent year-on-year, accounting for 9.6 percent of global tourists, data from the Beijing-based World Tourism Cities Federation shows. They spent $165 billion globally in 2016, up by 28 percent year-on-year and accounting for 11 percent of international tourism revenue.

"As we are seeing healthy customer demand from fast-growing developing markets for people-to-people exchanges, it is also equally important to develop markets in other BRICS countries, particularly Brazil, Russia and South Africa, and other new emerging markets participating in the Belt and Road Initiative," says Pu.

In addition to launching new routes and regularly increasing its fleet to boost revenue, Hainan Airlines recruits crew members, such as flight attendants, in countries including Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Russia.

The practice started in 2000. It currently has more than 4,700 flight attendants. More than 300 of them are from outside the Chinese mainland - from places like Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign countries.

Pu says proactive risk management is the key to safety management. Technic has developed a self-reporting safety management system, which is nonpunishing and encourages employees to report loopholes and procedure risks.

At present, the system has collected more than 4,000 reports on safety risks from front-line employees, a deep source of data for risk management.

In August, the group also launched Safety Day for the Public in Haikou, where its headquarters are located, to highlight its management experience and hardware development.

According to statistics from Boeing, in the fourth quarter of 2016, Hainan Airlines' 787 fleet achieved 99.62 percent reliability, topping the ranks for the same type of planes.

"Even though Hainan Airlines is a latecomer to the global market, pursuing a differential competitive strategy is necessary for the company, because other carriers have already scooped up many market resources," says Li Xiaojin, a professor at Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin.

HNA Group netted over 600 billion yuan ($91 billion; 76 billion euros; ￡67 billion) in revenue and provided 410,000 jobs around the world in 2016.

Its international tourism industry chain has also grown quickly, covering six basic businesses (food, hotels, transportation, travel, shopping and entertainment).

HNA Group has also completed the acquisition of a 16.2 percent stake in Swiss airport retailer Dufry AG from Singaporean sovereign wealth funds GIC and Temasek Holdings in August.

HNA Group will now allocate its resources worldwide as it becomes an international company, says Hu Angang, head of the Institute for Contemporary China Studies of Tsinghua University.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/29/2017 page29)