News
CAAC issues 2015 statistics as HNA and CEFC go shopping, again
April 8th 2016
Mainland airports handled a combined 914.8 million passengers in 2015, up 10% year-on-year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Read More » Domestic passenger numbers grew 9%, regional (HK, Macau, Taiwan) 2.3%, and international passengers increased a staggering 21.1% to 85.8 million. Cargo and mail throughput improved 3.9% to 14.1 million tonnes, while aircraft movements rose 8% to 8.6 million.
In 2015, there were altogether 210 civil airports on the Mainland, eight more than in 2014, including 26 that handled more than 10 million passengers, two more than the previous year. Airports handling more than a million passengers a year numbered 70, six more than in 2014.
The airports in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai accounted for 27.3% of the total Mainland passenger traffic, the CAAC said. Beijing Capital International Airport registered 89.9 million passengers last year, making it China’s busiest and the world’s second busiest following Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson which counted 101 million.
Meanwhile, fast-expanding HNA Group conglomerate went shopping again. This time it agreed to take a 66% controlling stake in construction firm Tysan Holdings Ltd. for $340 million, prompting Tysan’s shares to jump to their highest level in 25 years. HNA also agreed to purchase 40% of Tysan Foundation (Hong Kong) Ltd. from Fortunate Pool Ltd., a wholly owned company of Tysan's vice chairman and managing director, Victor Fung, for HK$836.6 million. Tysan was one of the firms involved in the construction of Cathay Pacific Airways’ air cargo terminal in Hong Kong.
In separate news, CEFC China Energy Company has upped its stake in Czech Travel Service Airlines to 49.92%. CEFC last September entered the Czech charter operator with a 10% shareholding. Travel Service in March said it was interested in increasing its stake in flag carrier CSA Czech Airlines to 54%.
