Era Ends as HNA Cedes Control of Core Airline Operations

(Bloomberg) — HNA Group Co. Ltd. has officially handed over control of its core airline operations to Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial Co. Ltd., marking the end of an era for the Chinese conglomerate as it continues to restructure one of the country’s biggest piles of corporate debt.

Gu Gang, head of a government taskforce in charge of HNA’s restructuring, will no longer serve as the group’s leading secretary for the Communist Party after the key handover of Hainan Airlines Holding Co. Ltd., the company said in a statement on social media Wednesday. The taskforce will continue its remaining work in handling the group’s reorganization, according to the statement.