(Yicai) Jan. 30 -- HNA Aviation Group, part of Chinese conglomerate Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial, the controller of Hainan Airlines Holding, has given bonuses of more than CNY400 million (USD55.7 million) to its employees after turning an operating profit last year for the first time since 2018.

HNA Aviation provided the cash bonuses to about 60,000 employees, including regular staff, contract workers, dispatched labor, and rehired personnel yesterday, Yicai learned. Its middle and senior management were not included.

Employees of HNA Aviation's subsidiaries that turned a profit last year received bonuses of CNY10,000 (USD1,400) each, while those of subsidiaries still in the red got a bonus of CNY5,000 (USD700) per head. The firm has a total of 35 units.

HNA Aviation's operating revenue soared 110 percent to CNY122.6 billion (USD17.1 billion) from a year earlier thanks to innovative product initiatives, intensified marketing efforts, expansion of ancillary revenue, and strict internal cost control, it announced earlier this month, without disclosing its operating profit.

Hainan Airlines moved over 94 million passengers last year, roughly equal to the pre-pandemic level of 2019, the Haikou-based carrier said. It operated nearly 80 international and domestic passenger routes from more than 20 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Haikou.

In December 2021, Fangda became the controlling shareholder of the bankrupted and restructured HNA Group's aviation business segment after investing CNY38 billion (USD5.3 billion), with an additional CNY3 billion (USD420 million) in risk assistance funds.

Fangda is a private firm that has repeatedly engaged in low-cost acquisitions of financially distressed companies, and through meticulous management, it assists these troubled firms to swing back into the black. Its previous successful cases have mostly been with companies from the steel industry.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev