Hainan Airlines secures court approval for restructuring

Hainan Airlines Holdings has gained the crucial green light from a local court for its restructuring plan, which will see it merge with 11 smaller airlines into a single carrier. In giving its approval, the Hainan High People’s Court ruled on 31 October that restructuring “complies with…the principle of maximising creditors’ interests” and was a “feasible” option. The airlines approved to merge comprise flagship Hainan Airlines, as well as smaller units such as Fuzhou Airlines, Lucky Air, Air Changan, as well as Guangxi Beibu Gulf Airlines. The merger of the 11 entities into one carrier was first floated in September after a “comprehensive investigation” into parent conglomerate HNA Group and its wide-ranging and often-murky corporate structure. Restructuring managers found that the connected transactions between the 11 carriers were “complex”, and that the creditors were seeking large amounts of claims. Previous reports indicate that the airlines owe close to $82b to more than 4,900 creditors, according to the filing. <br/>