Hainan Airlines Company Limited is an airline based in Haikou, Hainan, People's Republic of China. It is the largest privately-owned air transport company and the fourth-largest airline in terms of fleet size in all of China. It operates scheduled domestic and international services on 500 routes from Hainan and nine locations on the mainland, as well as charter services. Its main base is Haikou Meilan International Airport, with hubs at Beijing Capital International Airport, Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, Taiyuan Wusu Airport and Urumqi Diwopu International Airport.
The airline was established in October 1989 as Hainan Province Airlines. It was then renamed Hainan Airlines and became China's first joint-stock air-transport enterprise in January 1993 and began scheduled services on 2 May 1993. Executive-jet operations with a Bombardier Learjet 55 were added in April 1995 . In 1998, Hainan Airlines became the first Chinese carrier to own shares in an airport when it purchased a 25% stake in Haikou Meilan International Airport. Hainan Airlines has 9,102 employees as of March 2007. [Wikipedia]